Orders placed by Apple Inc. for chips used in iPhone production benefited Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) and pushed up the Taiwanese pure play foundry operator’s share of the global market in the third quarter of this year, according to Taipei-based market information advisory firm TrendForce Corp.
In a research report, TrendForce said TSMC saw its market share rise to 56.1 percent in the third quarter, up from 53.4 percent recorded a quarter earlier, after sales rose 11.1 percent from the second quarter to US$20.16 billion in the July-September period following the debut of the latest iPhone 14 series.
TSMC is believed to serve as the sole supplier of the A16 processor for production of the iPhone 14 series, which was unveiled and went on sale globally in September.
In the third quarter, TrendForce said, TSMC’s 7nm process and more advanced technologies accounted for 54 percent of its total revenue, and further cemented the company’s lead as the world’s largest contract chipmaker.
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South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. came in second after posting US$5.58 billion in sales in the third quarter, down 0.1 percent from a quarter earlier, a decline which reflected a fall in the South Korean won when its revenue was converted into the greenbacks.
Samsung’s market share fell from 16.4 percent in the second quarter to 15.5 percent in the third quarter, according to TrendForce.
United Microelectronics Corp., a smaller contract chipmaker from Taiwan, took third spot after generating US$2.48 billion in sales in the July-September period, up 1.3 percent from a quarter earlier on the back of solid demand for its mature 28nm process, but its market share fell from 7.2 percent to 6.9 percent, TrendForce said.
U.S.-based GlobalFoundries Inc. was ranked the fourth largest contract chipmaker in the world in the third quarter by posting US$2.07 billion in sales or a 5.8 percent market share ahead of China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (US$1.91 billion or 5.3 percent) and China’s Huahong Group (US$1.20 billion or 3.3 percent), the advisory firm said.
In addition, Taiwan’s Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. took the seventh spot after posting US$561 million in sales and taking a 1.6 percent share, ahead of Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp. (US$438 million or 1.2 percent), also in Taiwan, Israel’s Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (US$427 million or 1.2 percent), and China’s Nexchip Semiconductor Corp. (US$371 million or 1.0 percent), the advisory firm added.
The top 10 contract chipmakers generated a total of US$35.21 billion in combined sales in the third quarter, up 6.0 percent from a quarter earlier, accounting for 97 percent of the global total, according to TrendForce.
Looking ahead, TrendForce said a weakening global economy would prompt inventory adjustments, with sales in the world’s pure play foundry business expected to fall in the fourth quarter, marking the end of two years of sequential quarter-on-quarter increases.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel