Total semiconductor revenue hit an all-time high of $162.1 billion in the second quarter of 2024, as indicated by a recent analysis from Omdia. This represents a 6.7% increase from the previous quarter and surpasses the previous record set in the fourth quarter of 2021 by about $500 million. The impressive growth was primarily fueled by NVIDIA, the leading revenue generator in the industry, which has seen its quarterly semiconductor revenue increase by $18 billion since the fourth quarter of 2021.
Despite the overall record-setting revenue in the second quarter of 2024, not all companies are experiencing the same level of success. While the semiconductor market’s revenue is $33 billion higher than a year ago, more than 50% of the companies tracked actually reported lower semiconductor revenue compared to the previous year. This indicates that the revenue growth in the market is not evenly distributed among all companies. Of the 125 companies tracked in both the record quarters of the fourth quarter of 2021 and the second quarter of 2024, over 70% saw a decline in semiconductor revenue in the second quarter of 2024 compared to the fourth quarter of 2021.
NVIDIA’s revenue has now quadrupled since the industry’s previous revenue record in the fourth quarter of 2021. Without NVIDIA’s contribution, the market would fall significantly short of reaching a new revenue high. Excluding NVIDIA’s revenue, the record remains the fourth quarter of 2021, with total revenue amounting to $155.8 billion, while the second quarter of 2024 revenue stands at $138.2 billion, over $17 billion lower.
The dominance of NVIDIA in the market can be largely attributed to the demand for AI, although other segments of the semiconductor industry are also benefiting from the growth in AI. Memory companies are particularly profiting from the demand for AI, especially with High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM) chips that support AI processors. Furthermore, the memory market has seen an improved balance between supply and demand, which has positively impacted other areas. Following a challenging year in 2023, the market has rebounded, with quarterly revenue now exceeding $40 billion.
Cliff Leimbach, Principal Analyst at Omdia, commented on the recent industry performance, noting that the top semiconductor companies are getting larger. In the second quarter of 2024, the top ten companies by revenue accounted for 64% of the total market, the highest share on record and a seven-percentage point increase from the five-year average of 57%. A comparison to the last record revenue quarter in the fourth quarter of 2021 shows that the market gains are concentrated among fewer companies, with the top ten holding 57% of the revenue share during that period.
“NVIDIA continues to expand its market share, now representing 14.8% of the semiconductor market by revenue, driven by strong AI demand,” Leimbach concluded. Intel, historically either the top or second-largest company, remains in third place for the third consecutive quarter, with a 7.5% share in the second quarter of 2024. This marks Intel’s lowest market share since Omdia began tracking the semiconductor market in the first quarter of 2002.