It’s common knowledge that Samsung makes more money from its semiconductor and display division than it does out of its smartphone business. However, while it leads the market in the last category, it is just now that Samsung is starting to lead the pack in the semiconductor business.
Or at least it does according to sales figures. Last quarter, the company saw sales of $15.7 billion as well as an operating profit of $7.1 billion on top of that for just the semiconductor business.
Comparatively, Intel lagged behind with sales of $14.8 billion, while its operating income was almost worth half at $3.8 billion.
Defeating a 24 Year Legacy
Samsung’s blockbuster quarter ended Intel’s 24-year rule over the industry, even if the two companies aren’t always seen as direct competitors. The Korean giant got more than enough help through its flash memory business, where SSDs achieved impressive sales.
It also offers products in the Internet of Things category, cars and in particular mobile phones, which is a category that has risen exponentially at the expense of Intel’s strength, personal computers.
Intel’s Failed Smartphone Venture
Intel’s foray into the smartphone business hasn’t proved to be anything worth noting. In recent times the company’s focus on this segment has been dwindling.
It also left the wearable business but its upcoming 10 nm chips may enable the company to fight back in the market. Its blazingly-fast Optane SSDs might also help the course of business in the future.
NAND and DRAM prices rose on average by 50 and 110%, respectively, which also affected their business positively. At least, for the near future it seems that Samsung, which first entered the chip market in 1970, has got a stronger grip over things.
Beating out Apple?
Lastly, worth mentioning is the fact that Samsung is also expected to beat Apple in terms of profit next quarter, even if its a historically slow one for Apple. Samsung might finally achieve the numbers by posting a figure of $12.1 billion, compared to Apple’s expected $10.5 billion.
