(Seoul, 12th) – The global semiconductor industry is fiercely competitive, with major tech companies racing to develop advanced chips and capture market share. Recent data reveals that in the first half of this year, South Korea’s Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron Technology saw double-digit revenue growth. Samsung led the pack with an impressive $14.873 billion in revenue (approximately RM66.2 billion), solidifying its position at the top of the global semiconductor market. However, the company’s foundry division is facing challenges due to low yield rates, potentially leading to multi-trillion won losses this year.
According to reports, IDC released the latest figures on Monday (12th), showing that the recovery in semiconductor demand and the advancement of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) technology have driven a surge in global semiconductor company revenues. Among the top 10 integrated semiconductor companies worldwide, Samsung’s revenue skyrocketed by 78.8% to $14.873 billion, securing the top spot. Intel followed in second place with $12.139 billion (approximately RM54 billion), while SK Hynix experienced the largest growth, with revenue soaring by 144.3% to $9.074 billion (approximately RM42.1 billion), placing third. Micron came in fourth with $5.824 billion (approximately RM25.9 billion) in revenue.
Despite the overall growth, concerns loom for Samsung. South Korean media, citing market insiders, reported that while AI demand and the recovery of the smartphone market have boosted revenues across major semiconductor companies, Samsung, despite its leading revenue position, may face multi-trillion won losses this year due to low yield rates in its manufacturing processes.
Samsung’s recently released Q2 financial report showed a 23.4% year-on-year increase in revenue to 74.07 trillion won, with operating profit surging by 1462.3% to 10.4 trillion won. However, the company only disclosed the performance of its Device Solutions (DS) division, omitting individual results for its foundry and LSI businesses. Market analysts believe that Samsung’s foundry and system LSI operations incurred losses in Q2, with estimates suggesting a non-memory semiconductor loss of nearly 300 billion won (approximately RM960 million). Samsung Securities further predicts that the non-memory sector’s operating losses could reach 457 billion won.
