Samsung Electronics Co. is expected to solidify its spot as the world's top chip supplier for all of 2018 on the back of strong shipments of memory chips, industry tracker IC Insights said Tuesday, widening its gap with U.S. rival Intel Corp.

The South Korean chipmaker is expected to post combined sales of $83.2 billion this year, up 26 percent from a year earlier, IC Insight said, while suggesting an on-year 14 percent rise for Intel at $70.1 billion.

The gap between Samsung and Intel this year, around $13 billion, marks a sharp rise from $4 billion posted in 2017.

"Intel was the number one ranked semiconductor supplier in the first quarter of 2017 but lost its lead spot to Samsung in the second quarter. It also fell from the top spot in the full-year 2017 ranking, a position it had held since 1993," IC Insights said in its report.

The industry tracker added SK hynix Inc., the smaller South Korean rival of Samsung, is anticipated to post sales of $37.7 billion this year, soaring a whopping 41 percent on-year. It marked the highest rise among 15 companies surveyed in the report.

IC Insights, however, said Samsung became more dependent on the memory chips, as they are set to account for 84 percent of the annual earnings, up 3 percentage points from a year earlier.

"Moreover, the company's non-memory sales in 2018 are expected to be only $13.3 billion, up only 6 percent from 2017's non-memory sales level of $12.5 billion," IC Insights said. "In contrast, Samsung's memory sales are forecast to be up 31 percent this year and reach $70 billion." (Yonhap)