Samsung Electronics Co., the world's top memory chip maker, maintained its share of the global chip market at more than 10 percent in the first quarter on the back of growth in system semiconductors, industry data showed Monday.

According to the data compiled by market information provider iSupply, Samsung accounted for 10.5 percent or US$7.77 billion of the global semiconductor market in the January-March period to rank second among the world's major chip makers.

Samsung Electronics garnered a 11.1 percent share in the global chip market during the fourth quarter of last year, the data showed.

Intel Corp. of the U.S. took the top spot in the first quarter with $11.16 billion in sales for a 15.1 percent share. Qualcomm Inc. came in third with a 5.3 percent share or $3.92 billion in sales, followed by Toshiba Corp. with a 4 percent or $2.93 billion in sales.

Last year, Samsung accounted for 10.3 percent or $31.26 billion of the global semiconductor market. It marked the first time that Samsung's global market share had topped the 10 percent mark. In 2011, Samsung secured a 9.2 percent market share with sales of $28.56 billion, the data showed.

Samsung held on to the top position in the memory chip market in the first quarter with a 33.3 percent share and $4.72 billion in sales, according to the data.

SK hynix Inc. ranked second in the first quarter with a 17.4 percent share or $2.47 billion in sales in the memory chip market.

Micron Technology Inc. and Toshiba trailed with a 14.4 percent share and a 13.2 percent share, respectively, they showed.

Samsung's strong market share in the global chip market is also attributable to its recent active investment in system semiconductors including application processors, according to experts.

System on a chip, or a system semiconductor, refers to integrating all components of a computer or other electronic system onto a single integrated circuit and is a technology frequently used in the latest smartphones and tablet PCs.

Samsung secured a 5 percent share in the system semiconductor market with $2.67 billion in sales in the first quarter to rank third, but saw its share slightly slip from the fourth quarter's 5.9 percent.

Intel maintained its top position in the segment with a 20.3 percent or $10.82 billion in sales, followed by Qualcomm with a 7.3 percent or $3.91 billion, the data showed. (Yonhap News)