Worldwide semiconductor revenue climbed 21 percent year-on-year in 2025 to an estimated 793 billion dollars in sales, according to preliminary results from analyst firm Gartner. Growth was powered by relentless demand for artificial intelligence-related chips – including AI processors, high-bandwidth memory and networking components – which together accounted for nearly a third of total industry revenue as hyperscale data center buildouts expanded globally. AI infrastructure spending is forecast to exceed 1.3 trillion in 2026, underscoring the sector’s pivot toward AI-centric hardware.
The industry ranking saw significant shifts as Nvidia extended its lead, becoming the first vendor with over 100 billion dollars in semiconductor revenue and outpacing Samsung by approximately 53 billion dollars. The Korean company remained in second place with strong memory sales, while SK Hynix climbed to third on robust demand for HBM used in AI servers. Intel continued to lose market share, dropping to roughly 6 percent of the total.
