TSMC cements global lead as market share rises to 57.9% in Q3

Taipei, Dec. 9 (CNA) Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) further solidified its leading share of the global pure play wafer foundry market in the third quarter, according to Taipei-based market information advisory TrendForce Corp.

In a research report, TrendForce said TSMC saw its sales rise 10.2 percent in the July-September period to US$17.25 billion, pushing its market share to 57.9 percent in the quarter, up from 56.4 percent in the second quarter.

TSMC benefited from sales of chips using the advanced 3 nanometer process, the company's most advanced technology currently in mass production, offsetting the impact of a decline in wafer shipments, according to the advisory firm.

TSMC also received rush orders from international PC and smartphone brands to push up its sales in the quarter, TrendForce said.

The 3nm process alone accounted for about 6 percent of TSMC's total sales in the quarter, and advanced processes in general, referring to 7nm and more sophisticated technologies, made up almost 60 percent of the chipmaker's total revenue, TrendForce said.

United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC), a smaller Taiwanese contract chipmaker, took the fourth spot in global market share after generating sales of about US$1.80 billion for a 6.0 percent share in the third quarter, TrendForce said.

UMC got a boost from rush orders in the third quarter, offsetting a decline in demand for its automotive chips, but its third quarter sales still fell 1.7 percent from the second quarter, and its market share also fell 6.7 percent, according to TrendForce.

Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp. (VIS), a TSMC subsidiary, came in eighth after posting third-quarter sales of US$333 million, resulting in a 1.1 percent global market share, according to TrendForce.

VIS saw inventory levels in large size panel display driver ICs (LDDI) fall to a healthy level, and demand for power management ICs (PMIC) gradually recovered, helping sales rise 3.8 percent from the second quarter.

Taking the 10th spot, Taiwan's Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. (PSMC) posted sales of US$305 million in the third quarter, down 7.5 percent from a quarter earlier, according to TrendForce.

The advisory firm said PSMC, which took a 1 percent market share, saw a 10 percent fall in PMIC sales and a 20 percent revenue decline in power discretes, which provide solutions for a wide range of high-voltage and high-power applications.

After TSMC, South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. came in second in the third quarter with a 12.4 percent market share after generating US$3.69 billion in sales, ahead of U.S.-based GlobalFoundries (US$1.85 billion in sales, 6.2 percent in market share).

UMC in fourth was followed by China's Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (US$1.62 billion, 5.4 percent in market share), China's Huahong Group (US$766 million, 2.6 percent in market share), and Israel's Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (US$358 million in sales, 1.2 percent in market share).

Rounding out the top 10 were VIS, Intel Corp. spinoff Intel Foundry Services (US$311 million, 1.0 percent in market share), and PSMC.

The top 10 contract chipmakers posted US$28.29 billion in combined revenue in the third quarter, up 7.9 percent from a quarter earlier, and they accounted for 95 percent of the total revenue in the global pure play wafer foundry market, TrendForce said.