As you know, Samsungโs foundry division is struggling with a low yield rate of its 3nm and 2nm processes. Unsurprisingly, these challenges are directly impacting its market share. The Korean firmโs foundry market share declined further in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2024. While it remains the second-largest foundry in the world, the gap between Samsung and the industry leader TSMC has widened.
Q4 2024 market share and revenue breakdown of major foundries
According to data collected by TrendForce (via The Chosun Daily), TSMCโs market share rose to 67.1% in Q4 2024, up 2.4 percentage points compared to Q3 2024. On the other hand, Samsungโs share declined to 8.1% from 9.1%. As a result, the gap between the two companies is 59 percentage points (from 55.6 percentage points in Q3 2024). Meanwhile, Chinaโs SMIC, the third-largest foundry, held a 5.5% market share. It narrowed the gap with Samsung to 2.6 percentage points (from 3.1 percentage points in Q3 2024).
Speaking of the revenue trends in the foundry industry, overall revenue (combining all of the top 10 foundries) reached $38.48 billion in Q4 2024, up 9.9% from Q3 2024. Samsungโs Q4 revenue declined 1.4% to $3.26 billion. On the other hand, TSMCโs Q4 revenue increased 14.1% to $26.85 billion.
TrendForce also added key factors behind the market shift. TSMCโs growth includes strong demand for AI servers, flagship smartphone APs, and new PC platforms, which contributed to higher wafer shipments. On the other hand, Samsungโs revenue declined because of lower orders from major clients despite gains from new advanced semiconductor clients. Poor yield means no major chip firm has offered manufacturing contracts to Samsung lately.
However, Samsung is trying to gain market share by accelerating the development of its next-generation 2nm process technology. It is planning to introduce advanced 2nm manufacturing equipment at its Hwaseong semiconductor campus in Korea. This could improve its ability to produce competitive semiconductors with better efficiency and power consumption, and potentially attract major clients to compete with TSMC.
