Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Samsung May Overtake Intel As World's Largest Chip Maker In 2017 (pcmag.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the there's-a-new-sheriff-in-town dept.

According to U.S. semiconductor market research firm IC Insights, Samsung is likely to overtake Intel as the world's largest chip maker later this year. Bill McClean, president of IC Insights, explained that "If money market prices continue to hold or increase through the second quarter and the balance of this year, Samsung could charge into the top spot and displace Intel." PC Magazine reports: Intel first became the world's largest chipmaker back in 1993 and has held the title ever since. But as the mobile market has exploded, so did the need for the chips that make them work. Unlike on PC where Intel dominates, mobile is a different matter entirely, and Samsung is on hand to provide the DRAM and NAND chips they require. Intel first became the world's largest chipmaker back in 1993 and has held the title ever since. But as the mobile market has exploded, so did the need for the chips that make them work. Unlike on PC where Intel dominates, mobile is a different matter entirely, and Samsung is on hand to provide the DRAM and NAND chips they require.

34 of 56 comments (clear)

  1. Proof-reading? by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Or is it just repeating the same phrases twice to pad out a submission?

    --
    "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
    1. Re:Proof-reading? by ch0knuti · · Score: 3, Funny

      No it's just a multithreaded post.

    2. Re:Proof-reading? by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      The story explains exactly why America needs this war right now.

      We had Opium Wars, it is about time we held the First Microchip War.

    3. Re:Proof-reading? by wtfbill · · Score: 1

      Not at all!! The submitter works in the Department of Redundancy Department!!

    4. Re:Proof-reading? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Its was edited to remove the name "Motorola". Orwell... "who controls the present controls the past"

    5. Re:Proof-reading? by sabbede · · Score: 1

      Repeating the same phrases twice to pad out a submission? I don't know about that, but I hear Samsung is on hand to produce the DRAM and NAND chips they require.

  2. A dupe within the same story by fustakrakich · · Score: 5, Funny

    Intel first became the world's largest chipmaker back in 1993 and has held the title ever since. But as the mobile market has exploded, so did the need for the chips that make them work. Unlike on PC where Intel dominates, mobile is a different matter entirely, and Samsung is on hand to provide the DRAM and NAND chips they require.

    Intel first became the world's largest chipmaker back in 1993 and has held the title ever since. But as the mobile market has exploded, so did the need for the chips that make them work. Unlike on PC where Intel dominates, mobile is a different matter entirely, and Samsung is on hand to provide the DRAM and NAND chips they require.

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
  3. The summary repeats itself by skirmish666 · · Score: 2

    And it repeats itself too.

    --
    Sigger than your average
  4. The submitter could have been more informative... by bogaboga · · Score: 2

    Apart from duplicating that intro, the submitter would have been more informative if he/she told us who Intel supplanted back in 1993.

    I now have to `google` this I guess.

  5. *SLOW CLAPS* by maliqua · · Score: 1

    Good job /. this is by far the best written summary I have seen on this site in years.

    1. Re:*SLOW CLAPS* by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It is also (by far) the best written summary to have been seen on this site in years.

  6. Wrong Directions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I'd far rather buy the world's smaller chips than the world's largest chips.

  7. Oh no! by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 1

    This is terrible! An artificial measurement of success have been turned against a tech company! Better warn the public! -_-;

    --
    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
  8. Are you sure? by ls671 · · Score: 2

    Are you sure that:
    "Intel first became the world's largest chipmaker back in 1993 and has held the title ever since."

    reference please...

    --
    Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
    1. Re:Are you sure? by binarybum · · Score: 2

      they said it twice - isn't that enough!

      --
      ôó
  9. Re:The submitter could have been more informative. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    "I now have to `google` this I guess."

    Pretend it's 1993 again and use AOL search or gopher instead! It makes the terrible /. articles much more fun to research.

    Also, pretend it's 1993 again and use AOL search or gopher instead! It makes the terrible /. articles much more fun to research.

    Also, also, pretend it's 1993 again and use AOL search or gopher instead! It makes the terrible /. articles much more fun to research.

    I should be a /. editor!

  10. NEC, Toshiba, Hitachi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    According this is link it was the Japanese manufacturers.

    http://www.icinsights.com/news/bulletins/Tracking-The-Top-10-Semiconductor-Sales-Leaders-Over-26-Years/

    IMHO, you can buy an 8 core 64 Bit 2Ghz computer for $60 these days, complete with Bluetooth, HDMI, flash, Wifi, ethernet.... so Intel has already lost the market to a *cluster* of companies that includes Samsung, and it's for those companies to fight it out to see who becomes the dominant one. Intel will not be one of the winners.

    I don't think Samsung are currently likely to come out top, the Chinese chip makers are too cheap, they've been commoditized.

    (Google Android TV Box S912 and you'll find a load of these, stick Ubuntu Arm on these and they're faultless, as Android boxes they will play 3D games and 4K video reasonably).

    1. Re:NEC, Toshiba, Hitachi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      >Google Android TV Box S912 and you'll find a load of these

      Interesting. This could be a good light computer/server for some home tasks. I'd been considering a Raspberry Pi, but that would be $50 with some extras anyway.

      My only concern is that some Chinese chipsets come with backdoors or malware pre-installed.

    2. Re:NEC, Toshiba, Hitachi by TheRaven64 · · Score: 2

      so Intel has already lost the market to a *cluster* of companies that includes Samsung, and it's for those companies to fight it out to see who becomes the dominant one. Intel will not be one of the winners

      I'm not so sure, for two reasons:

      The first is that economies of scale are hugely important in the fab business. AMD spun off Global Foundries so that they could share their fab R&D costs with other companies and whoever has the highest quantities of current-process chips (older processes are less important - you run a fab for years after it's superseded, but your margins go down a lot) has a big advantage in terms of amortising their R&D costs across multiple chips. Being smaller than 5 other companies combined is not a problem, being smaller than one other company is.

      Second, people typically think of Intel as a processor vendor, but they're not. They're a chip maker that happens to design x86 cores as a way of keeping their fabs running. A lot of what they sell are RAM chips, network controllers, and so on. x86 chips make up a surprisingly small percentage of their total output. They're also an ARM licensee (you might be surprised at how many ARM cores there are on an Intel motherboard), and have just upgraded their ARM license, so there's nothing to stop them fabbing ARM cores if they decide it's a good business to be in (they do already on a bunch of their FPGA products).

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
  11. Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Looks like we're all experts at reading the summary. What about RTFA? ....

    *crickets*

  12. Revenue, not product by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    The article really says that Samsung's revenue will exceed Intel's if memory prices stay high. If prices drop, then Samsung is number 2. It has little to do with actual production of product. By this metric, Samsung could produce less and still become first in revenue if prices rise enough.

    1. Re:Revenue, not product by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Since Intel's management decided to stop innovation by cutting the research and development, the downward spiral of company will just speed up. The fat profits they now have can not continue forever. But that does not matter as the management team can retire into their mansions after company bank account is spent as bonuses.

  13. That may be true but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    The number of worthwhile chips between the two tells a totally different tale. Samsung kinda makes a bunch of horseshit when it comes right down to it. Processors for toys.

  14. Let me get this straight... by Megol · · Score: 1

    Unlike on PC where Intel dominates, mobile is a different matter entirely, and Samsung is on hand to provide the DRAM and NAND chips they require?

    1. Re:Let me get this straight... by sabbede · · Score: 1

      No no no. Samsung is on hand to provide the DRAM and NAND chips they require, because mobile is a different matter entirely.

  15. Re:The submitter could have been more informative. by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

    Archie was around, along with multiple spider services. You weren't stuck using AOL. AOL was always just an advertising engine, not a search engine. Gopher had no search engine and was still better than the first few years of Yahoo, as it was semi-hierarchical.

    --
    Learn to love Alaska
  16. It is also overtaking Akzo-Nobel.... by LordHighExecutioner · · Score: 1

    ...Samsung smartphones are replacing dynamite in many application fields!

  17. Spelling and grammar by thegarbz · · Score: 2

    At least there are no spelling and grammar errors in the summary.

  18. This repetition is giving me a headache. by sabbede · · Score: 1
    I need some Head On, applied directly to the forehead.

    Head On, applied directly to the forehead.

    Head On, applied directly to the forehead.

  19. It figures by OneHundredAndTen · · Score: 1

    There is no way Intel can come up with chips even half as explosive as Samsung's. Not in vain is Samsung a company on fire.

  20. I love this!!! It's Samsung, after all... by ctrl-alt-canc · · Score: 1

    From the headline:

    Intel first became the world's largest chipmaker back in 1993 and has held the title ever since. But as the mobile market has exploded...

  21. World's Largest Chip Maker by camperdave · · Score: 1

    Samsung May Overtake Intel As World's Largest Chip Maker In 2017

    So...Um... So, how big is the world's largest chip anyway?

    --
    When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    1. Re:World's Largest Chip Maker by camperdave · · Score: 1

      Transistor count doesn't tell you the size any more than saying a bookshelf can hold 50 books. 50 paperbacks takes up way less space than 50 encyclopedias. Talk to me in square millimetres.

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
  22. I think there has been a change in the Matrix by neo-mkrey · · Score: 1

    It's deja vue all over again...