South Korea's Samsung has overtaken US rival Intel as the world's biggest maker of semi-conductors as sales in the sector boom, a study published by consultancy Gartner showed on Thursday.

Samsung Electronics "gained the most market share and took the number one position from Intel -- the first time Intel has been toppled since 1992," said Gartner analyst, Andrew Norwood.

The total global market for semi-conductors grew by 22 percent to $419.7 billion (348 billion euros) in 2017, fuelled by growth in smartphones and other connected devices, Gartner calculated.

Samsung's sales jumped by 52.6 percent to $61.2 billion, giving it a market share of 14.6 percent, the study showed.

Intel's sales, on the other hand, grew by just 6.7 percent to $57.7 billion, or a market share of 13.8 percent.