Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is likely to see above-par revenue growth of 8.8 percent annually this year as more clients adopt its advanced 10 nanometer (nm) technology, market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday.
TSMC’s revenue is expected to expand to US$32.04 billion this year from last year’s US$29.44 billion, which would account for a 55.9 percent share of the world’s semiconductor foundry market and put it at the top of the industry’s rankings, the Taipei-based researcher said.
The Hsinchu-based chipmaker’s growth rate is outpacing the 7.1 percent expansion projected for the whole foundry industry, and this is going to be the fifth consecutive year it has posted 5 percent growth, TrendForce’s latest report said.
The global foundry industry is expected to generate US$57.3 billion in revenue this year, TrendForce said.
“High-performance computing applications [artificial intelligence and virtual reality] continue to drive demand for advanced 10nm process technology,” while chipmakers are also ramping up the technology, the report said.
Samsung Electronics Co, which was once described by TSMC chairman Morris Chang (張忠謀) as the “700 pound gorilla” rival to TSMC, is likely to see revenue grow just 2.7 percent year-over-year to US$43.98 billion, TrendForce said.
“Samsung, which competes with TSMC in offering 10nm process technology, will see limited growth as it only secures orders from its sole client, Qualcomm Inc,” the researcher said.
TSMC supplies 10nm chips for Apple Inc’s new iPhones and to China’s Hisilicon Technologies Co (海思半導體) and MediaTek Inc (聯發科).
Seoul-based Samsung ranks in fourth place in the world’s foundry industry, with a market share of 7.7 percent this year, TrendForce’s tally showed.
California-based GlobalFoundries is in second place with 9.4 percent market share, as revenue is forecast to rise 8.2 percent to US$5.41 billion, the tally showed.
Hsinchu-based United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) follows, with market share of 8.5 percent as its revenue is forecast to grow 6.8 percent to US$4.9 billion on the back of capacity expansion and an improving product portfolio, the researcher said.
China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯國際) placed fifth with a 5.4 percent market share and revenue of US$3.1 billion.
The Shanghai-based chipmaker is likely to see revenue grow at an under-par 6.3 percent year-over-year as it is struggling to boost yield rate for the 28nm technology, TrendForce said.
Among the top 10 foundry services providers, Powerchip Technology Corp (力晶科技) is expected to post the strongest growth, 18.9 percent year-over-year, to US$1.04 billion this year as it benefits from an increase in foundry capacities, the report said.
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