The global foundry industry witnessed a significant upswing in the third quarter of 2023, as reported by TrendForce. Leading the pack were TSMC, Samsung, SMIC, and Intel Foundry Services (IFS), with the combined revenue of the top 10 foundries reaching approximately $28.29 billion. This marks a 7.9% increase from the previous quarter, spurred by a resurgent demand in the smartphone and PC sectors.
TSMC stood out in the TrendForce report, achieving a revenue of $17.249 billion and a commanding 57.9% market share of the foundry sector. A significant driver of this growth was its 3nm fabrication technology, used in Apple’s latest processors. This technology alone contributed 6% to TSMC’s quarterly earnings, with advanced manufacturing processes (7nm and thinner) accounting for 60% of its revenue.
Samsung Foundry also made notable strides with a revenue of $3.69 billion, a 14.1% increase over the previous quarter. TrendForce attributes this growth to a combination of factors, including orders for Qualcomm’s 5G application processors and robust sales of 28 nm OLED display driver ICs, despite the 3nm process technology being primarily used for smaller cryptocurrency mining chips.
SMIC didn’t experience significant financial gains from its 2nd generation 7nm ramp for Huawei’s HiSilicon Kirin 9000S processor. The company’s revenue increased to $1.62 billion, a modest 3.8% rise from the previous quarter. TrendForce suggests this is due to a shift in SMIC’s client base, with a notable increase in orders from Chinese firms and a decrease in revenue from American clients.
A major development in the quarter was Intel Foundry Services’ re-entry into the Top 10 foundries. IFS reported a revenue of $311 million, a significant 34.1% increase from the previous quarter, largely driven by its collaboration with Amazon Web Services on advanced packaging technologies.
The quarter saw mixed results for other players in the foundry sector. GlobalFoundries maintained a steady revenue of about $1.85 billion, while UMC experienced a slight dip to $1.8 billion despite a rise in 28/22 nm orders. Tower Semiconductor and Vanguard International Semiconductor recorded marginal revenue increases, whereas HuaHong Group and PowerChip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp faced downturns in their financial performance.
