LONDON -- New research from Omdia shows that the semiconductor market delivered a record breaking performance in 3Q25 with industry revenue reaching $216.3bn, up 14.5% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ). This marks the first time the global semiconductor market has exceeded $200bn in a single quarter, following an already strong 2Q25, which saw 8% QoQ growth. At this pace, the industry is on track to exceed $800bn in total revenue for 2025.

3Q25 far exceeds seasonal expectations

Demand for AI and memory products remains strong, with both segments continuing to outpace the wider market. While AI has dominated recent industry narratives, Omdia notes that more segments contributed to growth in 3Q25 than in previous quarters.

Historically, the third quarter sees an average increase of just over 7% and public guidance going into 3Q25 suggested roughly 5% QoQ growth, a typical seasonal pattern. Instead, Q3 more than doubled expectations and delivered over 14% QoQ growth as nearly every semiconductor category outperformed last quarter’s forecasts.

Growth spreads beyond NVIDIA and memory

2024 was a record year for the semiconductor market, surpassing $650bn in revenue with more than 20% annual growth. However, Omdia notes that this expansion was highly uneven. When NVIDIA and memory ICs were excluded, the rest of the market grew just 1% in 2024 constrained by inventory adjustments and soft demand.

In contrast, 2025 has shown a far healthier and more broad-based recovery. While AI and memory remain the primary engines of expansion, the rest of the market is now growing strongly as well. Revenue in 3Q25 was up over 14% QoQ for the total market and came in at over 9% (excluding NVIDIA and memory IC).

For the full year 2025, Omdia projects semiconductor revenue to surpass $800bn, up nearly 20% from 2024. Even without NVIDIA and memory, the market is on track for around 9% annual growth, confirming that 2025 marks a shift to industry-wide expansion rather than growth concentrated in only a few segments.

Top companies reinforce AI and memory leadership

The top four semiconductor companies by Q3 revenue were NVIDIA and the three major memory companies: Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron, highlighting the continued dominance of AI accelerators and advanced memory.

“Demand for conventional DRAM is surging alongside HBM as AI inference workloads scale, driving an exceptional short-term price rally,” said Senior Principal Analyst Lino Jeng. “We expect Q4 to set a new all-time revenue record, with this extraordinary strength likely to continue into next year.”

Together, these four companies accounted for over 40% of all semiconductor revenue.