Foundry Market Grows 6% in Q2... TSMC and Samsung Market Shares Both Decline

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] In the second quarter of this year, the global semiconductor foundry market grew by 6% compared to the previous quarter, while the market shares of the industry’s top two companies, Taiwan's TSMC and Samsung Electronics, slightly decreased.

According to Taiwan market research firm TrendForce on the 1st, the combined revenue of the top 10 companies in the global foundry market in the second quarter of this year was $24.407 billion (approximately 28.2511 trillion KRW), marking a 6.2% increase from the previous quarter. Global foundry revenue has been hitting record highs for eight consecutive quarters since the third quarter of 2019. TrendForce explained, "In the post-COVID-19 situation, increased semiconductor demand, the spread of 5G mobile communications, and chronic foundry supply shortages led to customers’ 'panic buying' continuing through the second quarter."

Looking at market share, TSMC maintained first place with 52.9%, and Samsung Electronics held second place with 17.3%. The market shares of the two companies decreased by 1.6 percentage points and 0.1 percentage points respectively compared to the previous quarter. The gap between the two companies narrowed from 37.1 percentage points in the first quarter to 35.6 percentage points in the second quarter.

(Data provided by TrendForce)

Samsung Electronics’ foundry revenue in the second quarter recorded $4.334 billion, a 5.5% increase from the first quarter. Although the shutdown of the Austin foundry plant in the U.S. at the beginning of the year affected sales in the second quarter, TrendForce explained that strong demand for products such as image sensors (CIS) and display driver ICs (DDI) led to an overall increase in revenue.

TSMC’s foundry revenue in the second quarter was $13.3 billion, a 3.1% increase from the previous quarter. TrendForce analyzed, "Power outages in April and May this year caused disruptions in the operation of TSMC’s Fab 14 in the Tainan Science Park in Taiwan, negatively impacting revenue."

While TSMC and Samsung Electronics saw slight decreases in market share due to production facility disruptions, foundry companies ranked third and below enjoyed a rebound effect and expanded their market shares. Taiwan’s UMC, ranked third, increased from 7.1% to 7.2%, U.S.-based GlobalFoundries, ranked fourth, rose from 5.5% to 6.1%, and China’s SMIC, ranked fifth, grew from 4.7% to 5.3%.

Regarding the outlook for the third quarter, TrendForce stated, "Major foundry companies are maintaining a 100% utilization rate of their production facilities, but demand still exceeds supply," and forecasted, "Third-quarter foundry market revenue will again reach a record high."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.