Ranked: Semiconductor manufacturers by global revenue

Semiconductors are ubiquitous. They provide the computing power for electronics from smartphones to those found in cars and the data centers powering AI tools. But just one company dominates global semiconductor manufacturing revenue: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (NYSE:TSM), known as TSMC.

By the end of 2024, TSMC controlled 68% of global semiconductor foundry revenue, according to data from TrendForce. That far outpaces second-place Samsung (OTC:SSNL.F), which accounts for 8% of global chip manufacturing revenue.

For investors, the market concentration in semiconductor manufacturing is both a risk and an opportunity. To help break down stocks in the sector, The Motley Fool has a guide to the best semiconductor stocks.

Global semiconductor foundry revenue and share

TSMC has dominated global semiconductor manufacturing throughout the 2020s. At the start of the decade, it accounted for 64% of global semiconductor foundry revenue, and after dropping to 52% of global revenue in 2021, it rebounded to 68%. TSMC’s staying power as the top semiconductor manufacturer by global revenue share is fueled by its cutting-edge manufacturing processes, which have allowed it to mass-produce the most advanced chips years ahead of its competitors.

Samsung saw its share of global chip manufacturing revenue peak at 15% in 2020, but it has slowly sunk to 8% since then. The South Korean company’s foundry revenue decline is driven by a number of factors:

• Its rollout of 3nm manufacturing faced delays and yield issues, while TSMC was able to scale manufacturing more quickly and secure important customers like Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) (AMD), and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL).
• Samsung’s chip manufacturing otherwise focuses on memory chips, which have seen less demand in recent years.
• A diversified corporation, Samsung doesn’t need to rely on its chip foundry to support its business as much as TSMC, a pure-play semiconductor manufacturer, needs to.

Three semiconductor manufacturers have each steadily accounted for 4% to 9% of global revenue in this decade.

• GlobalFoundries (NASDAQ:GFS): The multinational contract chipmaker has seen its share of global semiconductor manufacturing revenue decline from 8% to 4%. It has foundries in Singapore, Germany, and the United States and is a Trust Foundry for the U.S. federal government. GlobalFoundries was created as a spinoff of AMD in 2009 when that company announced plans to go fabless a year prior.
• United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC), or UMC: UMC’s share of global chipmaking revenue has fallen from 9% to 5%. The Taiwanese company was founded in 1980, before TSMC, but has since been eclipsed by it. It operates fabs in Taiwan, China, Singapore, and Japan.
• SMIC: Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation is the largest semiconductor manufacturer in China. Its share of global revenue has held steady at 6% despite its sales to the United States being steadily hamstrung by tightening U.S. export controls. SMIC has been a major recipient of funds from the Chinese government and has major Chinese corporations as important customers.

A handful of other chipmakers account for roughly 10% of global semiconductor manufacturing revenue, including Intel (NASDAQ:INTC). Once a cutting-edge semiconductor innovator and manufacturer, the American company has struggled for more than a decade and was on the verge of scaling back its manufacturing in the U.S. That prompted the Trump administration to take a 10% stake in Intel out of concern that advanced chip manufacturing would entirely leave the United States, leaving the country reliant solely on foreign firms for semiconductors necessary for national security and technological innovation.

Why semiconductor manufacturing revenue matters for investors

The data is clear: TSMC has a strong grip on semiconductor manufacturing in the most profitable segments. The data shows that market share remains consolidated with TSMC, and other competitors are struggling to create any disruption.

For investors, concentration of revenue means concentration of opportunity. TSMC’s lead is significant enough to offer some certainty, but fortunes can change quickly in the semiconductor space, especially as the big players get ready to roll out 2nm chips.