Samsung predicted to beat Intel, become #1 chip vendor this summer

Samsung’s chip-making unit has been making some great strides in the past few years and now the South Korean chaebol is predicted to overtake Intel and become the world’s top producer of computer chips. Should the prediction come true, this will be a major blow to Intel, which has been the leading chip maker in terms of sales for 26 years since 1991.

According to researchers with NH Investment & Securities, cited in a report by The Korea Herald, Samsung could overtake Intel as soon as this summer due to the rise in number of data centers and expanded demand of solid state drives.

Intel captured an estimated thirteen percent of global chip sales in the first quarter of 2016 versus Samsung’s 9.1 percent share. But during the March quarter of 2017, Intel took up 14.7 percent while Samsung held a comparable figure of 13.4 percent.

“Starting the March-June period, Samsung’s global market share of chips will surpass the 15-percent mark to outpace its rival, helped by its improved competitiveness in the memory segment,” the report added.

Apple no longer uses Samsung’s chip fabrication plants to build its in-house designed processors for iOS devices, but iPhones and iPads still use Samsung-built flash memory modules and the iPhone 7’s LTE modem is being dual-sourced from Intel and Samsung.