Taiwan’s TSMC further solidified its dominance in the global foundry market in the fourth quarter of 2024, widening its lead over second-ranked Samsung Electronics, market research firm TrendForce said on March 11.
TSMC’s market share rose to 67.1% in Q4, up 2.4 percentage points from the previous quarter, while Samsung’s share declined to 8.1% from 9.1%. This pushed the gap between the two companies from 55.6 percentage points in Q3 to 59 percentage points in Q4.
TrendForce attributed TSMC’s growth to strong demand for AI servers, flagship smartphone application processors (APs), and new PC platforms, which drove an increase in wafer shipments. In contrast, Samsung’s revenue fell as gains from new advanced semiconductor clients did not fully offset declines in orders from key customers.
Despite holding onto its No. 2 position, Samsung saw its revenue decline quarter-on-quarter and faced increasing pressure from Chinese competitors. The combined revenue of the world’s top 10 foundry companies reached $38.48 billion in Q4, up 9.9% from $35.01 billion in the previous quarter.
TSMC’s Q4 revenue surged 14.1% to $26.85 billion, while Samsung’s dipped 1.4% to $3.26 billion. China’s SMIC, the third-largest foundry, held a 5.5% market share in Q4, narrowing its gap with Samsung from 3.1 percentage points in Q3 to 2.6 percentage points.
