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.
KEEPING UP: The acquisition of a cleanroom in Taiwan would enable Micron to increase production in a market where demand continues to outpace supply, a Micron official said Micron Technology Inc has signed a letter of intent to buy a fabrication site in Taiwan from Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) for US$1.8 billion to expand its production of memory chips. Micron would take control of the P5 site in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼) and plans to ramp up DRAM production in phases after the transaction closes in the second quarter, the company said in a statement on Saturday. The acquisition includes an existing 12 inch fab cleanroom of 27,871m2 and would further position Micron to address growing global demand for memory solutions, the company said. Micron expects the transaction to
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