The COVID pandemic – 19 has hit many economic sectors hard, but not the production of semiconductors : according to the analysts of IC Insights, the total turnover of the first 15 companies in the sector will grow by 13% compared to last year , period in which they had registered a – 15%. With just over a month from the end of the year, the estimates should be solid enough to reflect what happened in 2020.

The ranking sees Intel in first place, with a + 4% to 73,89 billions of dollars which reminds us how the US company, despite the production difficulties it is still facing, continues to have very high sales volumes. Samsung is in second position , after a few years in which the sale and high prices of DRAM and NAND l ‘ they had projected to the summit. The gap between Intel and Samsung is approximately 22%.

Taiwanese TSMC , manufacturer for third parties, is in third position and shows a growth of 31% that for insiders is not unexpected: the company is growing at a very rapid pace thanks to the many customers (Apple, Nvidia, AMD, etc.) who have selected the different generations of the prolific 7 nanometer production process and that are starting to make use of 5 nanometers, starting with Apple.

The IC Insights list also includes those companies that do not produce the chips themselves. AMD enters the rankings in fifteenth position, with an increase in sales of 41% for a total of approximately $ 9.5 billion. The gap with Intel is nearly eight times, but given the new proposals (Ryzen 5000, Radeon RX 6000, EPYC) it is plausible that it will taper off next year, provided TSMC can produce enough chips to meet demand.

However, the most significant percentage growth is achieved by Nvidia , with a jump of 50% which takes it from 10th to 8th position. Apple ranks thirteenth, but the arrival of the new M1 chip-based MacBooks should drive further growth in 2021.