The Big 3 memory suppliers -- Samsung Electronics and SK hynix of South Korea and Micron of the United States -- grappled with slumping sales in the first six months of the year compared with a year ago amid weak memory chip markets, according to the report from IC Insights.

Samsung and SK hynix suffered 33 percent and 35 percent on-year sales falls over the period, and Micron's revenue also sank 34 percent, the market research firm said.

In the wake of a downcycle of the memory market, US chip giant Intel replaced Samsung as the leading semiconductor supplier in the fourth quarter of 2018 and is set to keep the top spot for the full year of 2019, it said.

While Intel had 20 percent more semiconductor sales than Samsung in the first half of the year, Samsung had 22 percent more revenue than Intel a year ago on the back of strong demand for DRAM and NAND flash chips.

"While Samsung held the full-year No. 1 ranking in 2017 and 2018, Intel is forecast to easily recapture the No. 1 ranking for the full year of 2019, a position it previously held from 1993 through 2016," IC Insights said in the report. (Yonhap)