Q1 wafer foundry market: TSMC is hard to beat, Samsung is stalling and SMIC is closing in

According to news on June 11, according to a report by TrendForce, the global foundry market revenue in the first quarter of 2025 fell by approximately 5.4% from the previous quarter to US$36.4 billion.

Among them, TSMC accounts for 67.6% of the share. Although smartphone stocking has entered the off-season, there is strong demand for AI high-performance computing (HPC). Demand and urgent orders for TV tariff hedging caused TSMC's revenue to fall only 5% month-on-month to US$25.517 billion.

TSMC's leading position is due to its rapid advancement in advanced process technology and close cooperation with major customers such as NVIDIA, Apple and AMD.

Meanwhile , Samsung Foundry’s market share dropped to 7.7% from 8.2% in the previous quarter, and revenue fell 11.3% quarter-on-quarter to only US$2.89 billion.

Mainly due to its insufficient delivery capabilities in advanced processes and the U.S. ban on advanced processes for Chinese customers, which limits its ability to benefit from Chinese consumer subsidies.

SMIC achieved an increase in market share in the first quarter, reaching 6%, and revenue increased by 1.8% quarter-on-quarter to US$2.25 billion.

SMIC's growth has benefited from customers' advance stocking in response to US tariff policies, as well as China's consumer subsidy policy. In addition, SMIC's progress in 7nm and DUV equipment has also won more orders from domestic customers.

In terms of other manufacturers, UMC, GlobalFoundries, Huahong Group, World Advanced Semiconductor, Tower Semiconductor, Hefei Jinghe Integration and Power Semiconductor are also among the top ten wafer foundries in the market.