Sales at the world’s 10 largest pure-play foundry operators hit new quarterly highs in the fourth quarter of last year, for a 10th consecutive quarter, with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) retaining its position as the world’s largest contract chipmaker, Taipei-based market information advisory firm TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said.
TrendForce on Monday last week said that the top 10 contract chipmakers generated US$29.55 billion in sales in the fourth quarter, up 8.3 percent from a quarter earlier, accounting for 98 percent of the global total.
TSMC posted US$15.75 billion in fourth-quarter revenue, up 5.8 percent from a quarter earlier and accounting for 52.1 percent of the global total, TrendForce data showed.
Photo: Bloomberg
TrendForce said TSMC benefited from the debut of the iPhone 13 series, which went on sale in September last year and boosted the shipment of chips made using its advanced 5-nanometer process.
However, that growth was offset by a downturn in the Chinese smartphone market affecting TSMC chips made using its 6-nanometer and 7-nanometer technologies, it said.
United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) took the third spot after generating US$2.12 billion in sales in the fourth quarter, up 5.8 percent from a year earlier and accounting for 7 percent of the global market.
Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) and Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp (世界先進) placed seventh and eighth respectively, with US$619 million and US$458 million in sales, or a 2 percent and 1.5 percent share of the world market respectively.
South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co placed second after posting US$5.54 billion in sales in the fourth quarter, up 15.3 percent from a quarter earlier and accounting for 18.3 percent of total global sales.
As Samsung is one of the few contract chipmakers with its own 7-nanometer process, and production based on its 4-nanometer and 5-nanometer processes is increasing, its fourth-quarter sales rose at a double-digit percentage pace, TrendForce said.
Samsung’s sales were also pushed up by smartphone IC designer Qualcomm Inc, whose chips used in flagship smartphone models entered commercial production.
US-based GlobalFoundries Inc posted US$1.85 billion in sales in the fourth quarter to take fourth place with a 6.1 percent global market share, ahead of China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (中芯國際), which posted US$1.58 billion in sales.
Shanghai-based Hua Hong Semiconductor Ltd (華虹半導體) came sixth with US$864 million in sales, ahead of Israel’s Tower Semiconductor Ltd in ninth place with US$412 million in sales and South Korea’s Nextchip Corp in 10th place with US$352 million in sales.
TrendForce said the top 10 contract chipmakers are expected to posts sales growth in the first quarter of this year largely on the back of an increase in average sales prices.
FORCED LABOR: A US court listed three Taiwanese and nine firms based in Taiwan in its indictment, with eight of the companies registered at the same address Nine companies registered in Taiwan, as well as three Taiwanese, on Tuesday were named by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) as a result of a US federal court indictment. The indictment unsealed at the federal court in Brooklyn, New York, said that Chen Zhi (陳志), a dual Cambodian-British national, is being indicted for fraud conspiracy, money laundering and overseeing Prince Holding Group’s forced-labor scam camps in Cambodia. At its peak, the company allegedly made US$30 million per day, court documents showed. The US government has seized Chen’s noncustodial wallet, which contains
SUPPLY CHAIN: Taiwan’s advantages in the drone industry include rapid production capacity that is independent of Chinese-made parts, the economic ministry said The Executive Yuan yesterday approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion (US$1.44 billion) into domestic production of uncrewed aerial vehicles over the next six years, bringing Taiwan’s output value to more than NT$40 billion by 2030 and making the nation Asia’s democratic hub for the drone supply chain. The proposed budget has NT$33.8 billion in new allocations and NT$10.43 billion in existing funds, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said. Under the new development program, the public sector would purchase nearly 100,000 drones, of which 50,898 would be for civil and government use, while 48,750 would be for national defense, it said. The Ministry of
SENATE RECOMMENDATION: The National Defense Authorization Act encourages the US secretary of defense to invite Taiwan’s navy to participate in the exercises in Hawaii The US Senate on Thursday last week passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026, which strongly encourages the US secretary of defense to invite Taiwan’s naval forces to participate in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise, as well as allocating military aid of US$1 billion for Taiwan. The bill, which authorizes appropriations for the military activities of the US Department of Defense, military construction and other purposes, passed with 77 votes in support and 20 against. While the NDAA authorizes about US$925 billion of defense spending, the Central News Agency yesterday reported that an aide of US
NINE-IN-ONE ELECTIONS: Prosecutors’ offices recorded 115 cases of alleged foreign interference in the presidential election campaign from August 2023 to Dec. 13 last year The National Security Bureau (NSB) yesterday said that it has begun planning early to counter Chinese interference in next year’s nine-in-one elections as its intelligence shows that Beijing might intensify its tactics, while warning of continued efforts to infiltrate the government and military. The bureau submitted a report to the Legislative Yuan ahead of a meeting today of the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee. “We will research situations in different localities and keep track of abnormalities to ensure that next year’s elections proceed without disruption,” the bureau said. Although the project is generally launched during election years, reports of alleged Chinese interference
RSS