Semiconductor Revenue Hits $793 Billion as AI Chips Drive Historic 21% Growth in 2025

NVIDIA pulls $53 billion ahead of Samsung as AI fuels chip boom: Report

In 2025, the chip market soared to unprecedented heights, raking in an astounding $793 billion. This remarkable boom was predominantly fueled by AI chips, with NVIDIA at the forefront of this technological revolution. Trailing closely were Samsung Electronics, securing the second spot, and SK Hynix, which made impressive gains to take third place. Global semiconductor revenue surged to a record $793 billion in 2025, up 21% year-on-year, as demand for AI-driven chips continued to reshape the industry, according to preliminary estimates from Gartner. "AI semiconductors -- including processors, high-bandwidth memory (HBM), and networking components -- continued to drive unprecedented growth in the semiconductor market, accounting for nearly one-third of total sales in 2025," said Rajeev Rajput, senior principal analyst at Gartner. He added that the momentum is far from peaking, with AI infrastructure spending forecast to cross $1.3 trillion in 2026. ET Budget Survey: Tell us your wishlist Jensen Huang's NVIDIA emerged as the winner of the AI boom, widening its revenue lead over Samsung Electronics by $53 billion in 2025. The company became the first semiconductor vendor to cross the $100 billion mark in annual sales and contributed more than 35% of total industry growth during the year, Gartner said. Source: Gartner Samsung Electronics retained its position as the world's second-largest chipmaker, posting $73 billion in semiconductor revenue. While its memory business grew 13% year-on-year, non-memory revenue fell 8%, highlighting the uneven impact of the AI cycle. SK Hynix climbed to the No. 3 spot with $61 billion in revenue, a 37% jump from 2024, driven largely by strong demand for HBM used in AI servers. Intel, once the dominant force in semiconductors, continued to lose market share. Gartner estimates the company ended 2025 with a 6% share of the global market -- down sharply from around 12% in 2021. The rapid buildout of AI infrastructure is now reshaping the chip mix itself. In 2025, HBM accounted for 23% of the global DRAM market, generating more than $30 billion in sales, while AI processors alone crossed $200 billion in revenue. Gartner expects AI semiconductors to account for over half of total semiconductor sales by 2029. The strength of demand is also visible in monthly sales data. The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) said global semiconductor sales reached a record $75.3 billion in November 2025, up nearly 30% from a year earlier and 3.5% higher than October. "The global semiconductor industry posted its highest-ever monthly sales total in November, with demand increasing across all major product categories on a month-on-month basis," said John Neuffer, president and CEO of SIA. He added that the global chip market is on track to grow sharply in 2026, nearing $1 trillion in annual sales. Regionally, year-on-year sales rose across most major markets, led by Asia Pacific/All Other at 66.1%, followed by the Americas (23.0%), China (22.9%) and Europe (11.1%). Japan was the only major market to see a decline, with sales down 8.9% year-on-year. (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)

Global Semiconductor Revenue Surges 21% in 2025, Reaches $793 Billion: Gartner

The buildout of AI infrastructure is generating high demand for AI processors, HBM and networking chips. In 2025, HBM represented 23% of the DRAM market, surpassing $30 billion in sales while AI processors exceeded $200 billion in sales. AI semiconductors are set to represent over 50% of total semiconductor sales by 2029. Gartner is the World Authority on AI Gartner is an indispensable partner to C-Level executives and technology providers as they implement AI strategies to achieve their mission-critical priorities. The independence and objectivity of Gartner insights provide clients with the confidence to make informed decisions and unlock the full potential of AI. Clients across the C-Level are using Gartner's proprietary AskGartner AI tool to determine how to leverage AI in their business. With more than 2,500 business and technology experts, 6,000 written insights, as well as more than 1,000 AI use cases and case studies, Gartner is the world authority on AI.