Samsung Electronics tops IC Insights' list of top 15 semiconductor sales forecast

Samsung Electronics has topped the expected semiconductor sales rankings for 2018 according to one of the industry's leading market research firms.SK hynix also made the list's top three.Here's our Ko Roon-hee with more. Semiconductor market research firm IC Insights announced on Monday the top 15 chipmaking companies by sales forecast for 2018.And topping that list was Samsung Electronics,... with the expected total sales of around 83-point-3 billion U.S. dollars. This is up 26-percent from a year earlier. The research firm attributed the rise to Samsung's strong sales in DRAM and NAND flash markets. U.S. electronics firm Intel came second on the list with total expected sales of around 70-point-2 billion dollars, up 14-percent from last year. Intel had topped the sales rankings from 1993 up until 2017 when it was overtaken by Samsung Electronics.Another South Korean chipmaker, SK hynix came third on the list with estimated sales of more than 37-point-7 billion dollars... up a whopping 41-percent from the previous year-- the highest sales growth among the 15 companies. The overall semiconductor industry is expected to expand this year, with the 15 leading companies' total sales expected to jump 18-percent on-year in 2018. Meanwhile, the South Korean government's data shows semiconductor exports remain strong.According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy earlier this month, exports of semiconductors jumped 22-point-2 percent on-year in October... setting the second highest monthly exports record of around 11-point-6 billion dollars.The numbers have stayed above the 10-billion mark for the sixth consecutive month. Ko Roon-hee, Arirang News.