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 (TSM -1.24%), 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 (SSNL.F +56.02%), 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 (NVDA -1.44%), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD +1.16%) (AMD), and Apple (AAPL -0.46%).
- 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.
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