AI demand lifts top foundries' Q4 revenue, Samsung gains share
Strong demand tied to AI infrastructure and new smartphone launches helped push revenue for the world’s ten largest semiconductor foundries up in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to new research from TrendForce.
Combined revenue for the top ten foundries reached nearly USD 46.3 billion in the fourth quarter, representing a 2.6% increase QoQ. For the full year, the group generated approximately USD 169.5 billion in revenue, a 26.3% increase compared with 2024 and a new industry record.
According to TrendForce, demand for advanced manufacturing nodes remained strong during the quarter, driven in part by tight supply of AI server GPUs and custom AI processors such as Google’s TPUs. At the same time, the launch of new smartphones supported wafer demand for mobile application processors.
On the mature-node side, orders for power management ICs linked to servers and edge AI applications kept 8-inch fabs running at high utilisation rates, with some suppliers considering price increases. Utilisation rates at 12-inch fabs remained largely stable.
TSMC maintains dominant position
TSMC, unsurprisingly, remained the clear market leader in the quarter. While wafer shipments declined slightly, demand for new flagship smartphone processors – including chips used in the iPhone 17 series – boosted orders for the company’s 3-nanometre node. Higher average selling prices helped lift TSMC’s quarterly revenue by 2% sequentially to USD 33.7 billion, giving the company a market share of 70.4%.
Samsung's foundry division ranked second, reporting revenue growth of 6.7% QoQ to nearly USD 3.4 billion. Shipments of new 2-nm products and production of logic dies used in the company’s HBM4 memory supported revenue despite slightly lower fab utilisation. The performance helped Samsung increase its market share from 6.8% to 7.1% and return to profitability during the quarter.
Chinese and US foundries see moderate growth
SMIC held the third position, benefiting from continued demand linked to localisation efforts in China. The company’s revenue rose 4.5% sequentially to almost USD 2.49 billion, driven by higher wafer shipments and slightly improved average selling prices. UMC remained fourth, with stable orders from key customers supporting utilisation at both its 8-inch and 12-inch fabs. Revenue increased 0.9% QoQ to around USD 2 billion.
GlobalFoundries ranked fifth, supported by stronger demand for data centre peripheral components. Improved wafer shipments and pricing pushed revenue up 8.4% to USD 1.8 billion.
| Rank | Company | Revenue (USD millions) | Market share | |||
| 4Q25 | 3Q25 | QoQ | 4Q25 | 3Q25 | ||
| 1 | TSMC | 33,723 | 33,063 | 2.0% | 70.4% | 71.0% |
| 2 | Samsung | 3,399 | 3,183 | 6.7% | 7.1% | 6.8% |
| 3 | SMIC | 2,489 | 2,383 | 4.5% | 5.2% | 5.1% |
| 4 | UMC | 1,993 | 1,975 | 0.9% | 4.2% | 4.2% |
| 5 | GlobalFoundries | 1,830 | 1,688 | 8.4% | 3.8% | 3.6% |
| 6 | HuaHong Group | 1,215 | 1,213 | 0.1% | 2.5% | 2.6% |
| 7 | Tower | 440 | 396 | 11.1% | 0.9% | 0.9% |
| 8 | VIS | 406 | 412 | -1.6% | 0.8% | 0.9% |
| 9 | Nexchip | 388 | 409 | -5.3% | 0.8% | 0.9% |
| 10 | PSMC | 370 | 363 | 2.0% | 0.8% | 0.8% |
| Total top 10 | 46,252 | 45,086 | 2.6% | 97.0% | 97.0% | |
Outlook for 2026
Looking ahead, TrendForce expects early inventory build-ups for some consumer electronics to support utilisation rates in the first part of 2026. However, rising memory prices could dampen demand for mainstream devices later in the year, potentially creating uncertainty for orders and fab utilisation in the second half.
| Rank | Company | Revenue (USD millions) | Market share | |||
| 2025 | 2024 | YoY | 2025 | 2024 | ||
| 1 | TSMC | 122,543 | 90,047 | 36.1% | 69.9% | 64.4% |
| 2 | Samsung | 12,634 | 13,152 | -3.9% | 7.2% | 9.4% |
| 3 | SMIC | 9,327 | 8,030 | 16.2% | 5.32% | 5.7% |
| 4 | UMC | 7,629 | 7,234 | 5.5% | 4.35% | 5.2% |
| 5 | GlobalFoundries | 6,791 | 6,750 | 0.6% | 3.87% | 4.8% |
| 6 | HuaHong Group | 4,500 | 3,595 | 25.2% | 2.6% | 2.6% |
| 7 | Tower | 1,566 | 1,436 | 9.1% | 0.89% | 1.03% |
| 8 | VIS | 1,561 | 1,371 | 13.8% | 0.89% | 0.98% |
| 9 | Nexchip | 1,514 | 1,286 | 17.7% | 0.86% | 0.92% |
| 10 | PSMC | 1,404 | 1,304 | 7.7% | 0.80% | 0.93% |
| Total top 10 | 169,469 | 134,204 | 26.3% | 97% | 96% | |
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