TSMC Strengthens Leadership, Samsung Loses Ground – SMIC Catchs South Korean Giant
TrendForce analysts published a rating Top 10 Contract Chip Manufacturers by Q1 2025 Revenue, which demonstrates the continued dominance of TSMC and a noticeable decline in Samsung Foundry's positions. The Taiwanese company once again showed the best result - $ 25,5 billion in revenue, occupying 67,6% of the global contract manufacturing marketDespite a 5% decline in quarterly revenue, TSMC's position remains strong thanks to contracts with NVIDIA, Apple and AMD, especially in the AI and server space.
Against this background Samsung Foundry Loses Share and Demand, despite its former status as TSMC's main competitor. At the end of the quarter, its share fell to 7,7% with revenue falling by 11,3% ($2,89 billion). The reasons cited are insufficient flexibility when switching to new technological processes and contract fulfillment difficulties. Meanwhile, China's SMIC increased quarterly revenue by 1,8%, reaching $2,25 billion and 6% market share, closing the gap with Samsung.
It is also worth noting the stability of UMC (1,76 billion, -5,8%) and GlobalFoundries' sharp decline (1,58 billion, -13,9%), which continue to lose competitiveness. Among the newcomers gaining momentum are HuaHong Group and Nexchip, driving growth in China's semiconductor sector.
The total revenue of all participants in the rating amounted to $36,4 billion against $38,5 billion in Q4 2024 — the decline in the first quarter was 1%, despite the overall growth of the AI sector. Against this backdrop, TSMC continues to expand production in the US and is preparing to launch new N2 and A16 process technologies, while Samsung may yield second place to Chinese competitors as early as next quarter.
