TSMC takes 53.4% of global pure-play foundry market in Q2

Taipei, Oct. 1 (CNA) Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) retained its title as the world's largest contract chipmaker in the second quarter of 2022 with a 53.4 percent share of the global pure-play foundry market, according to the Taipei-based market information advisory firm TrendForce Corp.

In a research report released earlier this week, TrendForce said that despite TSMC's market share dipping slightly from 53.6 percent in the first quarter of 2022, it was still far ahead of its rivals.

TrendForce said TSMC continued to benefit from emerging technologies, such as high-performance computing devices, the Internet of Things, and automotive electronics, to post US$18.15 billion in sales in the second quarter, up 3.5 percent from a quarter earlier.

The mild quarter-on-quarter sales growth during the April-June period reflected a relatively high comparison base in the first quarter when TSMC raised chip prices amid a global supply shortage, TrendForce said,

South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. came in second with a 16.5 percent global market share in the second quarter of 2022. The Korean chipmaker posted US$5.59 billion in sales, up 4.9 percent from a quarter earlier, and saw improving yield rates in its 7 nanometer and 6nm processes, according to TrendForce.

Taiwan's United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC) took third spot with US$2.45 billion in sales and a 7.2 percent global share in the second quarter of 2022, TrendForce said.

UMC's second-quarter sales rose 8.1 percent from a quarter earlier on the back of support from its 22nm and 28nm processes, TrendForce added.

According to TrendForce, U.S.-based GlobalFoundries Inc. was the fourth largest contract chipmaker in the world in the second quarter of 2022 with a 5.9 percent global market share after posting US$1.99 billion, ahead of China's Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC), which posted US$1.90 billion in sales and held a 5.6 percent global market share.

China's HuaHong Group came in sixth with a 3.1 percent global market share after posting US$1.06 billion in sales, followed by Taiwan's Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. (US$656 million in sales, 1.9 percent in market share), Taiwan's Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp. (US$520 million, 1.5 percent), South Korea's Nextchip Co. (US$463 million, 1.4 percent), and Israel's Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (US$426 million, 1.3 percent), TrendForce said.

TrendForce said the top 10 contract chipmakers posted US$33.197 billion in combined sales in the second quarter of 2022, up 3.9 percent from a quarter earlier and accounting for 98 percent of the global total revenue.

TrendForce added sales growth momentum of the 10 largest contract chipmakers showed signs of slowing in the second quarter as global demand for consumer electronics gadgets weakened.

TrendForce said inventory adjustments were expected to continue to affect the pure-play foundry business in the third quarter of 2022, but added that Apple Inc.'s launch of the new iPhones was expected to lend some support to the sector in the third quarter.