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 has rebounded to 71%. 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 7% 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 -0.72%), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD -6.09%) (AMD), and Apple (AAPL +0.62%).
- 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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About the Author
Jack Caporal has positions in Advanced Micro Devices and Apple. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Apple, Intel, Nvidia, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
