Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) increased its global foundry market share to 72.5 percent in the second quarter, up from 72.3 percent in the first quarter, according to data released yesterday by TrendForce Corp. The Taipei-based market researcher attributed the gain to robust revenue from artificial intelligence (AI) and smartphone chips.

TSMC's revenue grew 12 percent sequentially to US$40.2 billion last quarter. That growth outpaced the 11.5 percent average revenue increase recorded among the world's top 10 foundry companies, TrendForce said.

Advanced nodes at full utilization

Demand has pushed TSMC's 5-nanometer and 3-nanometer production lines to full utilization, the researcher said. The same demand dynamics lifted the company's average selling prices and wafer shipments during the quarter.

Combined revenue of the top 10 foundries reached US$53.49 billion in the second quarter. TrendForce expects that total to grow further in the current quarter, supported by strong demand and price hikes across the industry.

Samsung loses ground

Samsung Electronics Co ranked second but saw its share fall to 5.9 percent from 6.5 percent in the prior quarter. The South Korean chipmaker's revenue nonetheless rose 1.8 percent quarterly to US$3.26 billion, driven by higher 5-nanometer chip prices and the ramp-up of high-bandwidth memory chips, TrendForce said.

The gap between first and second place now stands at 66.6 percentage points, underscoring the concentration of the contract chipmaking market around TSMC.

SMIC posts strongest growth

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) ranked third with a 5.4 percent market share, up from 5.1 percent in the first quarter. The Chinese company's revenue jumped 20 percent quarter-on-quarter to US$3 billion — the fastest growth rate among the top five.

TrendForce identified several drivers behind SMIC's expansion: seasonal inventory buildup for chips used in PCs, notebook computers and consumer electronics; increased shipments of AI peripheral chips and server networking chips; and price hikes in memory chips.

UMC and GlobalFoundries hold positions

Hsinchu-based United Microelectronics Corp (UMC) and US-based GlobalFoundries Inc held their positions in fourth and fifth place, unchanged from the previous quarter. UMC posted a market share of 3.9 percent, while GlobalFoundries accounted for 3.2 percent, TrendForce said.

The bottom half of the top 10 remained crowded with regional players. China's HuaHong Group ranked sixth, followed by Israel-based Tower Semiconductor Ltd in seventh, Hsinchu-based Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp in eighth, Chinese firm Nextchip Co in ninth, and Hsinchu-based Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp in tenth.

Outlook

The industry picture TrendForce presents for the third quarter is one of continued expansion. Strong demand and price increases across the sector are expected to lift combined top-10 revenue above the US$53.49 billion mark set in the second quarter.

For TSMC, the data confirms the dual engine of AI accelerators and smartphone silicon continues to absorb capacity at the most advanced process nodes. With 5-nanometer and 3-nanometer lines already running at full utilization, pricing power at the leading edge remains with the market leader.

The second-quarter numbers also highlight the widening stratification of the foundry market. TSMC's sequential revenue growth of 12 percent exceeded the top-10 average, while Samsung — the only other foundry with leading-edge capability — ceded 0.6 percentage points of share. The beneficiaries of that shift included SMIC, whose 20 percent growth reflected strength in mature-node demand tied to consumer electronics restocking and AI-adjacent components such as peripheral and server networking chips.