Samsung Electronics Co., the world's top memory chip maker, extended its share of the global chip market to more than 10 percent last year on the back of a growth in system semiconductors, industry data showed Tuesday.

According to the data compiled by market information provider iSupply, Samsung accounted for 10.3 percent or US$31.26 billion of the global semiconductor market last year to rank second among the world's major chip makers. Last year, the global chip market shrank 2.2 percent on-year to reach $304 billion.

It marks the first time that Samsung's global market share has topped the 10 percent mark.

In 2011, Samsung secured a 9.2 percent market share with sales of $28.56 billion, the data showed.

The improvement in market share is attributable to its recent active investment in system semiconductors including application processors, according to experts.

System on a chip, or system semiconductors, refers to integrating all components of a computer or other electronic system onto a single integrated circuit and is a technology frequently used in the latest smartphones and tablet PCs.

In the global chip market, Intel Corp. maintained its top spot last year with a share of 15.6 percent and sales of $47.42 billion, but its 2012 market share was down 0.1 percentage point from the previous year, and its sales declined 2.7 percent over the cited period, the data showed.

Qualcomm Inc. came in third with a 4.3 percent market share with $13.18 billion in sales, followed by Texas Instruments Inc. with a 4 percent share and $12 billion, and Japan's Toshiba Corp. with 3.7 percent and $11.1 billion.

Meanwhile, Samsung secured a 35.4 percent share in the memory chip market last year, slightly down from 35.7 percent a year earlier. SK hynix of South Korea ranked second with a 16.6 percent, according to the data. (Yonhap News)