After nearly a quarter of a century, the semiconductor industry could see a new #1 supplier in 2Q17, with Samsung to charge into the top spot and displace Intel.

A new report released by NH Investment & Securities Co. showed that
the rise in number of data centers and the demand of solid state drives (SSDs) will help Samsung become the No. 1 player in the global chip industry.

Intel took up 13 percent of the global market in the first quarter of 2016 while the South Korean giant accounted for 9.1 percent. Over the January-March period of 2017, Intel took up 14.7 percent while Samsung held a comparable figure of 13.4 percent.

According to the report, Samsung's global market share of chips will surpass the 15-percent mark to outpace its rival, starting the March-June period. Of course, this will happen if memory prices don't tank in the second half of this year.

On top of the DRAM and NAND business, Samsung also says it's seeing solid demand for 14nm SoCs, image sensors, and other smartphone chips.