The ranking of global semiconductor majors may see a reshuffle, with TSMC's revenue surging 48% last quarter from a year ago to NT$613.1 billion (about 27.5 trillion won). Samsung Electronics did not announce the results of its semiconductor business when it announced its preliminary valuation of last quarter's earnings last week, and the market estimates that it is expected to reach 24 trillion to 25 trillion won, less than TSMC, and that Samsung may give up its position as the world's top semiconductor sales company to TSMC this quarter.
In the past, Samsung and Intel have been competing for the top spot in global semiconductor revenue, with the former's flagship product being memory chips and the latter's main product being personal computer (PC) central processing units (CPUs). However, weak demand from downstream industries (such as PCs and smartphones) has hit Samsung and Intel's performance, while TSMC's foundry business continues to see strong demand, leading the company to overtake Samsung and Intel.
TSMC overtakes Samsung as global semiconductor market leader in Q3 revenue, sources say
According to TSMC's recently announced September earnings, its revenue exceeded NT$200 billion (US$6.3 billion). Operating revenue for the third quarter hit a record high of NT$61.34 billion, up 14.8% QoQ. As of September, TSMC's cumulative revenue for the year rose 42.6% from a year ago to NT$1.64 trillion.
According to the latest figures from the SIA, global semiconductor sales rose 0.1% year-on-year, but fell 3.4% in August from a year earlier to US$47.4 billion. John Neuffer, president and CEO of the SIA, said the August sales decline was the largest percentage decline since February 2019 as global semiconductor sales growth has stagnated in recent months. As for the top 10 global outsourced semiconductor foundries (OSAT) ranking last quarter, Taiwan's Sunrise reigned supreme, with mainland and US players also making the list, except for South Korean companies.
In the face of the current sluggish market situation, UBS Securities said that TSMC's 7nm capacity utilization rate will only be 70% in the first half of next year, while the overall capacity utilization rate will probably fall between 85% and 89%, lower than the previously expected 90%.
Although, for the time being, TSMC has achieved a historic performance, there is still a great deal of uncertainty in the semiconductor market for the next few months. According to the Taiwanese media "Electronic Times", the industry predicts that TSMC will be conservative about its business outlook for the fourth quarter of this year and the first half of next year
