AI to drive semiconductor growth to US$1.5 trillion by 2030: TSMC

Taipei, May 14 (CNA) AI is projected to drive global semiconductor output to US$1.5 trillion by 2030 as it is expected to replace smartphones as the chip industry's primary growth engine, a senior executive at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) said Thursday.

Speaking at TSMC's 2026 Taiwan Technology Symposium in Hsinchu, TSMC Deputy Co-COO Kevin Zhang (張曉強) said AI development had advanced far faster than expected and was rapidly reshaping the global technology industry.

"Over the past decade, smartphones were the key growth driver for semiconductors. In the future, that growth momentum will come from AI," said Zhang, who also serves as the chipmaker's senior vice president for business development and global sales.

Zhang described AI as potentially "the most important and influential technology in human history."

Nearly all current AI accelerators are now largely produced through the semiconductor industry's fabless-foundry model, which separates chip design from manufacturing, he added.

Under that model, semiconductor companies focus on chip design while outsourcing increasingly complex and costly manufacturing processes to foundries such as TSMC, helping accelerate innovation, he said.

According to Zhang, AI and high-performance computing applications are expected to account for 55 percent of the global semiconductor market by 2030, while smartphones will contribute 20 percent, followed by automotive and Internet of Things applications at 10 percent each.

He added that the global foundry sector alone could reach US$500 billion by 2030.

Zhang said smartphones would continue driving semiconductor innovation, noting that handsets powered by chips manufactured using TSMC's 2-nanometer process technology are expected to become commercially available later this year.

Taiwan possesses "the world's strongest AI supply chain," Zhang said, citing partnerships between TSMC and Taiwanese electronics manufacturers such as Quanta Computer Inc.

Meanwhile, Ray Wan (萬睿洋), TSMC's director of Asia-Pacific Business, said AI applications are rapidly expanding from cloud computing into edge devices such as smartphones, home appliances and automobiles.

"Smartphones are gradually becoming personal AI assistants," Wan said.

To illustrate the scale of AI-related semiconductor demand, Wan said TSMC customers across the Asia-Pacific region used more than 2.1 million 12-inch equivalent wafers last year.

If stacked vertically, those wafers would exceed 1,600 meters in height -- taller than three Taipei 101 skyscrapers combined, he said.