The Korea Herald

지나쌤

S. Korea ranks 2nd in global chip sales in 2020: report

By Yonhap

Published : April 14, 2021 - 10:47

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This photo provided by SK hynix Inc. shows the company's 18GB LPDDR5 mobile DRAM chips. (SK hynix Inc.) This photo provided by SK hynix Inc. shows the company's 18GB LPDDR5 mobile DRAM chips. (SK hynix Inc.)
South Korea, home to major memory chip suppliers like Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc., ranked second in global chip sales last year, a report showed Wednesday, although it had extremely weak presence in the fabless segment.

Total integrated circuit (IC) sales from South Korea-based firms represented 21 percent of the global market in 2020, according to the latest McClean Report published by market researcher IC Insights.

The United States topped the ranking with a share of 55 percent, while Taiwan came in third with 7 percent.

The report, which did not include the foundry sector, showed South Korean companies held a 30 percent share of global integrated device manufacturer (IDM) sales, which was only behind the US with a 50 percent share.

IDM refers to a semiconductor company that designs, manufactures and sells IC products. Companies like Samsung and SK hynix fall into this category.

However, South Korea-based firms had only a 1 percent share of the fabless segment of the worldwide IC market, according to the report.

A fabless firm designs and sells chips but outsources manufacturing of products.

The United States dominated the fabless sector with a 64 percent market share, followed by Taiwan with 18 percent and China with 15 percent. (Yonhap)