Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, has been ranked 48th globally in terms of market capitalization, according to accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers Taiwan (PwC).
In a report last year on market capitalization, PwC said that TSMC was the only Taiwanese company that made the top 100 rankings.
TSMC’s market cap had increased by US$9 billion from a year earlier to US$130 billion as of the end of March, the report showed.
In the report, PwC said the world’s top 100 firms saw their combined market capitalization fall 4 percent from a year earlier to US$15.58 billion, the first annual decline since the 2008-2009 global financial crisis.
The drop largely reflected an economic slowdown in China and Europe, PwC said.
US-based companies accounted for 54 spots on this year’s list, including the top 10, which PwC said reflected the US firms’ innovation capability, financial strength and global expansion strategies.
The top 10 firms on the list are Apple Inc; Alphabet Inc, which is the parent of Google; Microsoft Corp; Berkshire Hathaway Inc, controlled by investment guru Warren Buffett; Exxon Mobil Corp; Facebook Inc; Johnson & Johnson; General Electric Co; Amazon.com Inc; and financial giant Wells Fargo & Co, in that order.
Although Apple remained at the top of the list this year, its market capitalization fell by an annual 17 percent, while Alphabet rose 38 percent from a year earlier, the report said.
European companies accounted for 19 percent of the total market capitalization worldwide and made up 24 of the listings in the rankings, PwC said.
A total of 11 firms in China and Hong Kong were listed among the top 100 in the report, with a combined market capitalization of US$1.78 trillion, making up 11 percent of the world’s total.
purpose: Tesla’s CEO sought to meet senior Chinese officials to discuss the rollout of its ‘full self-driving’ software in China and approval to transfer data they had collected Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing yesterday on an unannounced visit, where he is expected to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of "full self-driving" (FSD) software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Chinese state media reported that he met Premier Li Qiang (李強) in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that Tesla's development in China could be regarded as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation. Musk confirmed his meeting with the premier yesterday with a post on social media platform X. "Honored to meet with Premier Li
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Dutch brewing company Heineken NV on Friday announced an investment of NT$13.5 billion (US$414.62 million) over the next five years in Taiwan. The first multinational brewing company to operate in Taiwan, Heineken made the statement at a ceremony held at its brewery in Pingtung County. It also outlined its efforts to make the brewery “net zero” by 2030. Heineken has been in the Taiwanese market for 20 years, Heineken Taiwan managing director Jeff Wu (吳建甫) said. With strong support from local consumers, the Dutch brewery decided to transition from sales to manufacturing in the country, Wu said. Heineken assumed majority ownership and management rights
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI