Intel’s original products were memory chips, including the world’s first metal oxide semiconductor. Intel introduced Pentium microprocessor in 1993, which promoted the substantial expansion of the personal computer market. Intel provides processor support for computer companies such as Hewlett-Packard and Dell.
Second, (Korea)
Sales: $43.54 billion
Third, TSMC (Taiwan Province, China)
Sales: $29.32 billion
TSM claims to be the world’s largest professional independent pure semiconductor foundry. Pure OEM means only manufacturing integrated circuits without any internal design capability. Many leading semiconductor companies outsource component manufacturing to TSMC to reduce labor costs and invest in research and development.
Famous products: Snapdragon is a highly integrated "all-in-one" mobile processor series platform launched by Qualcomm, which covers entry-level smartphones and even high-end smartphones, tablets and next-generation smart terminals. Snapdragon used to be based on the microprocessor core customized based on ARM architecture, combining the industry-leading 3G/4G mobile broadband technology with powerful multimedia functions, 3D graphics functions and GPS engines. Opteron processor platform series integrates IT and communication. With its high processing speed, extremely low power consumption, realistic multimedia and comprehensive connectivity, it promotes the emergence of new intelligent mobile terminals, so that users can get the best experience of "always online, always activated and always connected", thus redefining mobility for consumers all over the world.
Qualcomm has always been a major chip supplier of global brands such as HTC, Sony, Nokia, MOTO, LG and Samsung. In China, smartphones from Huawei, ZTE, Lenovo, Xiaomi, Hisense, Haier and other manufacturers mostly used Opteron processors before. For example, many well-known smart Phone and star terminals such as Nokia Lumia 800, Lumia920, Lumia1020, Lumia1520, Lumia2520, Xiaomi M1, Redmi 1S Telecom Edition, Xiaomi M2, Xiaomi 3, HTC One, Lenovo K71, K81 Smart TV, HTC One V, HTC One S, HTC One XC, HTC One Max, BBK vivo S1, Lenovo.
Qualcomm used to be the most used mobile processor brand in the world’s big-name high-end mobile phones, and its position in the smart phone industry is equivalent to Intel, the chip giant in the PC field. It is worth mentioning that in November 2012, Qualcomm’s market value also surpassed Intel for the first time.
It is worth mentioning that when AVGO was acquired by competitor Avago for $37 billion in 2015, it was a major news at that time. Their products mainly serve four markets: wireless communication, enterprise storage, wired infrastructure and industry. It produces semiconductor devices and analog devices, and provides interfaces for computers’ Bluetooth connections, routers, switches, processors and optical fibers.
In Korea, there used to be four 8-inch wafer production lines and a 12-inch wafer production line, and there was an 8-inch wafer production line in Oregon, USA. In 2004 and 2005, the global market share of DRAM ranked second, and that of China ranked first.
Industry position and influence: Micron Technology, Inc is one of the world’s leading suppliers of advanced semiconductor solutions. Through global operation, Micron manufactures and markets DRAM, NAND flash memory, CMOS image sensor, other semiconductor components and memory modules for frontier computing, consumer goods, networks and mobile portable products. The common stock code of Micron Company is MU, which is traded on new york Stock Exchange (NYSE).
On July 2, 2012, Micron Technology, an American semiconductor manufacturer, announced that it would acquire Elpida, a Japanese chip manufacturer, for $2.5 billion. After the acquisition of Elpida, micron technology will replace Hynix as the second largest DRAM memory chip manufacturer in the world, second only to Samsung Electronics. DRAM memory chips are widely used in PCs and mobile devices. Although there are many DRAM memory chip manufacturers in Taiwan Province, due to their small scale, this market will gradually be dominated by Samsung Electronics, Micron Technology and Hynix.
Micron Technology (MU) sells semiconductor products in the international market. Its products are used in computers, consumer electronics, automobiles, communications and servers. It created flash products and rewritable storage solutions.
Texas Instruments started as an oil and gas company in 1930, and then focused on defense system electronics in 1940s. This Dallas-based company entered the semiconductor industry in 1958, and currently has more than 40,000 patents on electronic products.
The largest manufacturer of NFC technology and RFID solutions, the shipment of RFID chips has exceeded 1.5 billion, and more than 80% of electronic passports in the world use its chips. About 80% of the contactless smart card schemes in the global mass transit system adopt its MIFARE? technology.