It is safe to say that Intel is the leader when it comes to semiconductors. The company has provided chips for computer vendors over many, many years, but it looks like Samsung could be catching up soon, at least according to a report from IHS (via SamMobile) in which they claimed that Samsung’s market share has increased, thus closing the gap between both companies.
In terms of sales, Samsung has managed to remain in second place for many years, with Intel consistently leading the way. However according to the latest numbers, Samsung increased its market share by 0.9%, giving them a global market share of 11.6% versus Intel’s 14.8%. Granted this still puts Samsung in second place, but the gap is indeed closing.
In 2012 the gap was at 5.3%, which grew smaller in 2013 to 4.2%, and in 2015 that number grew even smaller as the difference was just 3.2%. At the rate that this is going, it is possible that Samsung could eventually catch up to Intel and possibly overtake them in the next few years unless Intel does something drastic, although presumably it is Samsung’s dominance in the mobile industry that is giving them the edge.
In the meantime Qualcomm also lost its third place position and was overtaken by SK Hynix who now has a market share of 4.8%.