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Samsung brushes off rise of Chinese chip-makers
August 10, 2025
Korean companySamsungis the world’s largest chip-makeras far as profits are concerned, followed closely by American companyIntel. But the Chinese semiconductor market is booming, with theHuaweisubsidiary HiSilicon earningan estimated26 billion Chinese yuan (~$3.87 billion) in 2017.
But does this worry Samsung? Not at all, according to the chief of the tech giant’s device solutions division, Kim Ki-nam.
“Chinese firms are heavily investing in almost all types of semiconductors, including memory chips,” Mr. Ki-nam said, “but technological barriers in the segment are relatively higher than in other industries.”
He then brushed off the Chinese competition by saying, “It takes more than large, short-term investments to overcome such difficulties. Samsung will give it all it’s got to continue its lead in the sector.”
Mr. Ki-nam was speaking at a Q&A session withThe Investor, a subsidiary ofThe Korean Herald. The newspaper also grilled Samsung on the company’s smartphone market share dropping to single-digits in China. Mr. Ki-nam was a little less boisterous when discussing that statistic:
This is an interesting claim, as theSamsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plushit stores only a few days ago.
Whether Samsung wants to admit it or not, China is a global powerhouse in the smartphone market. Three of the top five smartphone manufacturers are Chinese, and HUAWEI, in particular, has grown its smartphone market share every single quarter since 2015. If it continues on that path, it couldpotentially overtake Samsung’s crownas the world’s largest smartphone maker, asit overcame Apple late last year. Xiaomi has alreadytaken over Samsung’s lead in India.
Even though HiSilicon has a long way to go to catch up to Samsung when it comes to semiconductor chip production, its proven that it has the chops to do so. Let’s see what Samsung has to say this time next year about China’s rise in the chip-making industry.
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