According to IC Insights, Samsung is soon expected to make a comeback in the semiconductor industry to once again overtake Intel as the largest semiconductor manufacturer in the world. Predictions believe this change will take place right around Q2 of 2021 (which isn’t far from now).

Intel has long been a dominant payer in the semiconductor industry and currently holds the longest run as the number 1 semiconductor manufacturer in the world, starting in 1993 and lasting all the way through 2016.

It took 23 years before Samsung finally displaced Intel of its position in 2017, thanks to a growing supply of memory sales during that time. It was a good time for competition, and finally proved Intel could be beaten by another competitor in the semiconductor industry.

It should be of no surprise that Samsung was the company to beat Intel; over the past decade, Samsung has become a mega-corporation in the tech industry, becoming the worlds leading memory and NAND flash manufacturer, as well as producing many other devices such as TVs, phones, and smart home appliances.

But Samsung’s lead was short-lived — after just two quarters, the company suffered a 17% loss in revenue due to a sharp decline in memory sales allowing Intel to regain the number one position in 2018.

Luckily for Samsung, Intel’s sales have mostly flatlined since 2020, leading to a minor decline in revenue. This has allowed Samsung, with its slow but continuous increases in revenue, to almost match Intel in sales performance over the past few months.

If this trend continues, Samsung should once again displace Intel as the lead semiconductor manufacturer.