Samsung's revenue hit a high and squeezed out Intel's leading chip throne

South Korea's Samsung Electronics announced its latest results on the 27th, in the case of semiconductor shortages, last year's fourth quarter revenue profits were better than expected, Q4 revenue hit a new record high, helping Samsung overtake Intel and climb the global chip manufacturing leader.

The epidemic has caused tight supply chains, and the production capacity of various products has been hit hard, from cars and home appliances to smartphones. Products are in short supply, the semiconductor industry benefits from it, and chip giants such as Samsung and Intel have greater pricing power than ever before.

In the past 30 years, Intel has occupied the leading position of chips almost every year, only in 2017 and 2018, the price of memory chips soared, and the first throne was given to Samsung.

Last year, Samsung's memory chip business was particularly profitable, with the semiconductor division's revenue rising 29% year-on-year to 94.16 trillion won. Gartner, a research institute, pointed out that this is enough for Samsung to squeeze out Intel and become the world's largest chip manufacturer.

Samsung said that driven by the booming demand for data center servers and 5G mobile phones, it is expected that the demand for memory will remain strong this year. However, the shortage of parts and supply chain problems have caused tight production capacity, which may affect gas purchases.

Kang Moon-soo, executive vice president of Samsung's foundry division, revealed at a french conference on Thursday that Samsung has strengthened its investment in wafer foundry, including spending $17 billion on a plant in Texas, and said chip supply remains tight this year.

Samsung's revenue in Q4 last year set a record of 76.57 trillion won. The net profit segment increased by 64% year-on-year, surging to 10.84 trillion won from 6.6 trillion won in the same period last year.

Samsung's latest quarterly report card exceeded market expectations. According to the results of the S&P Global Market Intelligence survey, it is generally expected that Samsung's net profit last quarter was 10.7 trillion won and revenue was 75.5 trillion won.

Summarizing the 2021 annual results, net profit increased by 51% annually to 39.9 trillion won, and revenue increased by 18% annually to 279.6 trillion won.

Samsung's mobile business unit also performed well last quarter, thanks to the contribution of the flagship folding machines Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3, which were launched in August last year. The division's operating profit for the fourth quarter was 2.66 trillion won, up 10% from the same period last year, and revenue increased by 30% year-on-year to 28.95 trillion won.