Top 10 global foundries see 4.3% QoQ drop in 1Q24
The first quarter of 2024 marked the entry of a traditional off-season for the consumer end, according to a survey by TrendForce. Orders were mainly for restocking inventory, and the supply chain was slow overall. Economic risks like inflation and geopolitical conflicts led to revisions in forecasts for automotive and industrial equipment. AI servers played a key role in supporting the supply chain. Despite this, the top 10 global foundries saw a 4.3% revenue drop to USD 29.2 billion.
The rankings of the top five foundries saw noticeable changes. SMIC rose to third place after securing orders for of inventory replenishment for consumer products and embracing localised production, surpassing both GlobalFoundries and UMC. On the other hand, GlobalFoundries slipped to fifth place due to setbacks stemming from revised automotive, industrial equipment and traditional data centre businesses.
Despite strong demand for AI-related HPCs, TSMC's revenue dropped to USD 18.85 billion in 1Q24, a decline of approximately 4.1% QoQ due to the off-season for consumer products like smartphones and laptops. However, TSMC maintained a market share of 61.7% as competitors faced similar challenges. The initiation of Apple's stocking cycle and steady demand for AI server-related HPCs could drive single-digit QoQ revenue growth for TSMC in 2Q24.
Similarly, Samsung Foundry's revenue decreased to USD 3.36 billion in 1Q24, a 7.2% QoQ drop, primarily due to the off-season for smartphones and localised production trends among Chinese Android smartphone brands and peripheral suppliers. Despite the expected reactivation of stocking for the smartphone market in 2Q24, TrendForce’s survey indicates excessive stocking activities from the client end in 1Q24, which led to a worse-than-expected performance in production for 2Q24. This may constrain Samsung Foundry's overall operation, potentially resulting in flat or slightly increased QoQ revenue, especially considering the competition from Chinese brands in China and capacity constraints in Samsung's advanced nodes.
| Rank | Company | Revenue | Market share | |||
| 1Q24 | 4Q23 | QoQ | 1Q24 | 4Q23 | ||
| 1 | TSMC | 18,847 | 19,660 | -4.1% | 61.7% | 61.2% |
| 2 | Samsung | 3,357 | 3,619 | -7.2% | 11.0% | 11.3% |
| 3 | SMIC | 1,750 | 1,678 | 4.3% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| 4 | UMC | 1,737 | 1,727 | 0.6% | 5.7% | 5.4% |
| 5 | GlobalFoundries | 1,549 | 1,854 | -16.5% | 5.1% | 5.8% |
| 6 | HuaHong Group | 673 | 657 | 2.4% | 2.2% | 2.0% |
| 7 | Tower | 327 | 353 | -7.1% | 1.1% | 1.01% |
| 8 | PSMC | 316 | 330 | -4.2% | 1.0% | 1.0% |
| 9 | Nexchip | 310 | 308 | 0.6% | 1.0% | 1.0% |
| 10 | VIS | 306 | 304 | 0.7% | 1.0% | 1.0% |
| Total top 10 | 29,172 | 30,489 | -4.3% | 96% | 95% | |
For more information visit TrendForce.
