Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) secured a record 70.2 percent share of the global foundry business in the second quarter, up from 67.6 percent the previous quarter, and continued widening its lead over second-placed Samsung Electronics Co, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said on Monday.
TSMC posted US$30.24 billion in sales in the April-to-June period, up 18.5 percent from the previous quarter, driven by major smartphone customers entering their ramp-up cycle and robust demand for artificial intelligence chips, laptops and PCs, which boosted wafer shipments and average selling prices, TrendForce said in a report.
Samsung’s sales also grew in the second quarter, up 9.2 percent sequentially to US$3.16 billion, on the back of strong smartphone demand and the ramp-up of Nintendo Co’s Switch 2 game consoles. However, its market share fell to 7.3 percent from 7.7 percent over the period, the report said.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
As a result, the gap between TSMC and Samsung widened to 62.9 percentage points last quarter from 59.9 percentage points the previous quarter, it said.
Chinese chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯) retained its position as the world’s third-largest foundry, but recorded declines in sales and market share as persistent problems in its advanced-node production lines led to shipment delays and lower average selling prices, the report said.
SMIC’s sales slipped 1.7 percent to US$2.21 billion, while its market share fell to 5.1 percent from 6.0 percent a quarter earlier. Its gap with Samsung also grew, widening to 2.2 percentage points last quarter from 1.7 points three months earlier, it said.
United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) remained in fourth place, with US$1.9 billion in sales and a 4.4 percent market share, ahead of US-based GlobalFoundries Inc in fifth place with sales of US$1.69 billion and a market share of 3.9 percent, the report said.
The combined sales of the top 10 foundry companies rose 14.6 percent sequentially to US$41.72 billion last quarter, boosted by Chinese consumer subsidies that spurred early stocking, as well as demand for new smartphones, laptops, PCs and servers set to launch in the second half of the year, TrendForce said.
For this quarter, the industry’s capacity utilization and sales are expected to show moderate growth, supported by seasonal demand for new products and steady orders for advanced and mature-node chips, it said.
Taiwan’s long-term economic competitiveness will hinge not only on national champions like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) but also on the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies, a US-based scholar has said. At a lecture in Taipei on Tuesday, Jeffrey Ding, assistant professor of political science at the George Washington University and author of "Technology and the Rise of Great Powers," argued that historical experience shows that general-purpose technologies (GPTs) — such as electricity, computers and now AI — shape long-term economic advantages through their diffusion across the broader economy. "What really matters is not who pioneers
In a high-security Shenzhen laboratory, Chinese scientists have built what Washington has spent years trying to prevent: a prototype of a machine capable of producing the cutting-edge semiconductor chips that power artificial intelligence (AI), smartphones and weapons central to Western military dominance, Reuters has learned. Completed early this year and undergoing testing, the prototype fills nearly an entire factory floor. It was built by a team of former engineers from Dutch semiconductor giant ASML who reverse-engineered the company’s extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) machines, according to two people with knowledge of the project. EUV machines sit at the heart of a technological Cold
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) last week recorded an increase in the number of shareholders to the highest in almost eight months, despite its share price falling 3.38 percent from the previous week, Taiwan Stock Exchange data released on Saturday showed. As of Friday, TSMC had 1.88 million shareholders, the most since the week of April 25 and an increase of 31,870 from the previous week, the data showed. The number of shareholders jumped despite a drop of NT$50 (US$1.59), or 3.38 percent, in TSMC’s share price from a week earlier to NT$1,430, as investors took profits from their earlier gains
TAIWAN VALUE CHAIN: Foxtron is to fully own Luxgen following the transaction and it plans to launch a new electric model, the Foxtron Bria, in Taiwan next year Yulon Motor Co (裕隆汽車) yesterday said that its board of directors approved the disposal of its electric vehicle (EV) unit, Luxgen Motor Co (納智捷汽車), to Foxtron Vehicle Technologies Co (鴻華先進) for NT$787.6 million (US$24.98 million). Foxtron, a half-half joint venture between Yulon affiliate Hua-Chuang Automobile Information Technical Center Co (華創車電) and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), expects to wrap up the deal in the first quarter of next year. Foxtron would fully own Luxgen following the transaction, including five car distributing companies, outlets and all employees. The deal is subject to the approval of the Fair Trade Commission, Foxtron said. “Foxtron will be