Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) further solidified its dominance in the global wafer foundry business in the first quarter of this year, remaining far ahead of its closest rival, Samsung Electronics Co, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday.
TSMC posted US$25.52 billion in sales in the January-to-March period, down 5 percent from the previous quarter, but its market share rose from 67.1 percent the previous quarter to 67.6 percent, TrendForce said in a report.
While smartphone-related wafer shipments declined in the first quarter due to seasonal factors, solid demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) devices and urgent TV-related orders due to US tariff measures helped limit TSMC’s revenue decline in the quarter, it said.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
In contrast, Samsung’s sales fell 11.3 percent sequentially to US$2.89 billion last quarter and its market share slid to 7.7 percent from 8.1 percent over the period, the report said.
TrendForce attributed Samsung’s falling sales to fewer benefits from China’s subsidy programs and the US’ export restrictions on advanced chips.
As a result, the gap between TSMC and Samsung widened to 59.9 percentage points last quarter from 59 percentage points a quarter earlier, it said.
TSMC shares closed up 1.01 percent at NT$1,005 yesterday, passing NT$1,000 for the first time since March 7, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
The report also highlighted the Chinese chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp’s (SMIC, 中芯) rising competitiveness in mature nodes, as the firm posted increases in sales and market share.
SMIC remained third in the global foundry business, with revenue of US$2.25 billion, up 1.8 percent quarterly, and a market share of 6 percent, compared with 5.5 percent the previous quarter, the report said.
Its gap with Samsung narrowed to 1.7 percentage points last quarter from 2.6 percentage points three months earlier, it added.
United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) ranked fourth, with US$1.76 billion in revenue and a 4.7 percent market share, ahead of US-based GlobalFoundries Inc in fifth place, with a revenue of US$1.58 billion and a market share of 4.2 percent, it said.
In sixth to 10th places were Huahong Group (華虹) with US$1.01 billion in revenue and 2.7 percent market share, Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp (世界先進) with US$363 million and 1 percent market share, Tower Semiconductor Ltd with US$358 million and 0.9 percent share, NexChip Co (晶合集成) with US$353 million and 0.9 percent, and Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) with US$327 million and 0.9 percent, the report said.
The combined revenue of the top 10 wafer foundry companies fell 5.4 percent sequentially to US$36.4 billion last quarter due to seasonal weakness, although rush orders from clients and China’s consumer subsidies partially offset the slowdown in demand, TrendForce said.
For this quarter, the industry’s capacity utilization and revenue growth would be supported by China’s subsidy programs, the building of prelaunch inventories for new smartphone models, and stable demand for AI and HPC applications, although the effect of tariff-driven front-loading shipments are expected to fade for foundries.
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
RISING: Strong exports, and life insurance companies’ efforts to manage currency risks indicates the NT dollar would eventually pass the 29 level, an expert said The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rallied to its strongest in three years amid inflows to the nation’s stock market and broad-based weakness in the US dollar. Exporter sales of the US currency and a repatriation of funds from local asset managers also played a role, said two traders, who asked not to be identified as they were not authorized to speak publicly. State-owned banks were seen buying the greenback yesterday, but only at a moderate scale, the traders said. The local currency gained 0.77 percent, outperforming almost all of its Asian peers, to close at NT$29.165 per US dollar in Taipei trading yesterday. The
RECORD LOW: Global firms’ increased inventories, tariff disputes not yet impacting Taiwan and new graduates not yet entering the market contributed to the decrease Taiwan’s unemployment rate last month dropped to 3.3 percent, the lowest for the month in 25 years, as strong exports and resilient domestic demand boosted hiring across various sectors, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. After seasonal adjustments, the jobless rate eased to 3.34 percent, the best performance in 24 years, suggesting a stable labor market, although a mild increase is expected with the graduation season from this month through August, the statistics agency said. “Potential shocks from tariff disputes between the US and China have yet to affect Taiwan’s job market,” Census Department Deputy Director Tan Wen-ling
UNCERTAINTIES: The world’s biggest chip packager and tester is closely monitoring the US’ tariff policy before making any capacity adjustments, a company official said ASE Technology Holding Inc (日月光投控), the world’s biggest chip packager and tester, yesterday said it is cautiously evaluating new advanced packaging capacity expansion in the US in response to customers’ requests amid uncertainties about the US’ tariff policy. Compared with its semiconductor peers, ASE has been relatively prudent about building new capacity in the US. However, the company is adjusting its global manufacturing footprint expansion after US President Donald Trump announced “reciprocal” tariffs in April, and new import duties targeting semiconductors and other items that are vital to national security. ASE subsidiary Siliconware Precision Industries Co (SPIL, 矽品精密) is participating in Nvidia
RSS