Intel Foundry Drops Out of Top 10 as Leading Foundries See Strong Growth in Quarterly Revenue

Trendforce’s latest report suggests that the semiconductor industry has seen decent growth over the past quarter. Overall revenue rose by ~7.9%, thanks to multiple factors, some of which are unique to certain foundries and others that impact the industry as a whole (such as the rise in AI applications).

Downswing in “Annual” Revenue for the World’s Leading Foundries

While the fourth quarter of 2023 did show upward trends in the revenue generated by the top 10 foundries, the YoY results unsurprisingly deviated from this pattern. The annual results showed a 13.6% decline in revenue, totaling $111.54 billion.

Analysts at TrendForce have pointed out that the reasons for this downward spiral go beyond the slowing economy. For one, the foundries had to deal with full inventories across the supply chain. Also, one of the largest consumer markets in the world, China, saw a slow recovery.

AI to Pull Back Revenue Numbers This Year

In 2024, it is predicted that the industry will see a massive rise, up to about 12%, mainly thanks to the rise of AI applications worldwide. This would then place the cumulative revenue for the Top 10 foundries at around $125.24 billion.

TSMC Widens the Gap Between #2, IFS Pushed Back Out of the Top 10

These recent findings show that the Top 10 foundries in the world capture 88.8% of the market, and TSMC alone gets more than 60%, making it the undisputed leader in the industry. IFS, which recently claimed to overthrow TSMC as the world’s leading foundry, has now dropped out of the Top 10.

IFS, which recently announced its 14A process node and 18A CPUs, has seen a decline in revenue in the last quarter of 2024. This is mainly attributed to the shift in older and newer processes, but with the company’s own projections, they aim to climb up to at least the Top 5 in the next six years.

For TSMC, shipments improved by 14% to $19.66 billion, and revenue generated from processes thinner than 7nm increased from 59% to 67%. Again, with increasing orders and the rise of AI applications this year, TSMC is expected to be the primary beneficiary of this change in trend.

China’s SMIC saw a quarterly increase of 3.6%, with revenue coming in at $1.68 billion. Also, with IFS out of the Top 10, Nexchip climbs back into the rankings.

This is all we know for now, but rest assured that we will keep you updated as new information becomes available.

via: TrendForce