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TrendForce’s latest research reveals that the global foundry industry exhibited a polarized trend in 4Q24. Advanced process nodes benefited from strong demand in AI servers, flagship smartphone application processors (APs), and new PC platforms, driving high-value wafer shipments. This growth helped offset the slowdown in mature process demand, allowing the top 10 foundries to achieve nearly 10% QoQ revenue growth, reaching US$38.48 billion, and marking another industry record.
TrendForce notes that new U.S. trade tariffs under the Trump administration have started affecting the foundry industry. A surge in recent orders for TVs, PCs, and notebooks bound for the U.S. in 4Q24 is expected to extend into 1Q25. Additionally, China’s consumer subsidy program—introduced in late 2024—has spurred early inventory restocking among upstream customers. Combined with persistent demand for TSMC’s AI-related chips and advanced packaging, these factors suggest that despite Q1 being a seasonally weak quarter, foundry revenue will only decline slightly.
TSMC saw QoQ growth in wafer shipments, which boosted revenue to $26.85 billion. The company secured a 67% market share to maintain its leading position. Samsung Foundry ranked second, with revenue declining 1.4% QoQ to $3.26 billion, representing an 8.1% market share. The revenue from new advanced-node customers could not fully compensate for the loss of orders from major existing clients, leading to a slight decline in sales.
SMIC faced customer inventory adjustments, resulting in a decline in wafer shipments. However, the ramp-up of new 12-inch capacity and an optimized product mix, which boosted blended ASPs, helped offset the losses. As a result, SMIC’s revenue increased 1.7% QoQ to $2.2 billion, securing a 5.5% market share and the third position.
UMC benefited from customers front-loading orders, keeping capacity utilization and shipments above expectations. This mitigated the impact of ASP declines, leading to a minor 0.3% QoQ revenue drop to $1.87 billion, ranking fourth. GlobalFoundries experienced increased wafer shipments and maintained fifth-place ranking. However, revenue growth was partially offset by slight ASP declines, resulting in 5.2% QoQ revenue growth to $1.83 billion.
Localization policies boost Nexchip’s market share
HuaHong Group ranked sixth, with Q4 revenue increasing 6.1% QoQ to $1.04 billion. HHGrace’s 12-inch fabs saw slight capacity utilization improvements, boosting wafer shipments and ASPs. Meanwhile, HLMC benefited from China’s home appliance subsidy program and inventory replenishment, further increasing utilization rates.
Tower Semiconductor maintained its seventh-place ranking, with 4.5% QoQ revenue growth to $387 million, as ASP improvements offset the impact of lower fab utilization rates. VIS ranked eight, posting a 2.3% QoQ revenue decline to $357 million due to weaker consumer demand, though ASP growth partially offset shipment declines.
Among the top 10 foundries, Nexchip was the only company to shift rankings this quarter, moving up to ninth place with 3.7% QoQ revenue growth to $344 million. While it faced weaker demand for panel-related DDI, its CIS and PMIC shipments sustained its growth momentum. PSMC fell to tenth place, impacted by weaker demand for memory foundry and consumer-related chips. However, on a full-year basis, PSMC’s total revenue remained slightly higher than Nexchip’s.
