Samsung reclaims top slot, pushing Intel at No. 2; Nvidia jumps to No. 3 from No. 5

Rising demand for AI has spurred the growth of semiconductors in 2024 as the aggregate revenues reached $626 billion in 2024, growing 18.1 per cent from 2023. The trend seems to continue this year and the revenues are pegged to be at $705 billion in 2025, according to research firm Gartner Inc.

“Graphics processing units (GPUs) and AI processors used in data centre applications (servers and accelerator cards) were the key drivers for the chip sector in 2024,” George Brocklehurst, VP Analyst at Gartner, said.

“The rising demand for AI and generative AI (GenAI) workloads led data centres to become the second-largest market for semiconductors in 2024, behind smartphones. Data centre semiconductor revenue totalled $112 billion in 2024, up from $64.8 billion in 2023,” he said.

The overall market’s positive performance impacted several semiconductor vendors’ rankings. Eleven vendors experienced double-digit growth and only 8 of the top 25 semiconductor vendors posted revenue decline in 2024.

Samsung reclaims top slot

Samsung Electronics reclaimed the number 1 spot from Intel and extended its lead over the company in 2024 driven by a strong rebound in memory device prices. Samsung Electronics revenue totalled $66.5 billion in 2024.

Intel moved to the second position as its product set. Intel’s semiconductor revenue was flat at 0.1 per cent growth in 2024.

Nvidia continued to perform exceptionally well, increasing its semiconductor revenue by 84 per cent in 2024, to total $46 billion. It moved up two spots to secure the third position, thanks to the strength of its AI business.

Memory revenue

Memory revenue recorded a whopping 72 per cent revenue growth in 2024. Memory’s share as a percentage of total semiconductor sales increased to 25.2 per cent in the year under review.

DRAM (dynamic random access memory) revenue improved 75.4 per cent in 2024 while NAND (a type of memory that stores data in electronic devices) revenue increased 75.7 per cent year-over-year. High-bandwidth memory (HBM) production contributed significantly to the revenue for DRAM vendors.

Nonmemory revenue, which accounted for 74.8 per cent of total semiconductor revenue in 2024, increased 6.9 per cent in 2024.

“Memory and AI semiconductors will drive near-term growth, with HBM projected to account for an increasing share of DRAM revenue, reaching 19.2 per cent in 2025,” Brocklehurst said.

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