◎ Tong Zhenyuan
In the second quarter of 2026, the global foundry industry will continue to have strong growth momentum, driven by the continued expansion of demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC), as well as the advance stocking of the consumer electronics supply chain.
According to statistics from TrendForce, the total revenue of the world's top ten wafer foundries in the second quarter reached US$53.49 billion, an increase of 11.5% from the previous quarter, setting a new record high, and the growth rate was also significantly higher than the 3.7% in the first quarter.
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According to TrendForce statistics, the world's top ten wafer foundries' combined revenue reached US$53.49 billion in the second quarter, a record high. (provided by the author)
This quarter, the revenue of the top ten companies all increased compared with the previous quarter. The main driving force comes from the continued shortage of advanced processes used in AI and HPC processors, as well as the rising demand for AI peripheral chips such as power management chips (PMICs) and power discrete components. The supply chain of TVs, personal computers and laptops is stocking up in advance, which has also further tightened the production capacity of some mature processes.
However, this quarter's growth results are still highly concentrated among a few leading players. TSMC's single-quarter new revenue accounted for nearly 80% of the new output value of the top ten companies, reflecting that the global wafer foundry market concentration continues to be at a high level.
TSMC’s revenue exceeded US$40 billion, and its market share rose to 72.5%
TSMC’s revenue in the second quarter of 2026 reached US$40.198 billion, an increase of 12.1% from the previous quarter, a growth rate higher than the overall industry average.
In absolute terms, TSMC's single-quarter revenue increased by approximately US$4.34 billion, while the total revenue of the world's top ten wafer foundries increased by approximately US$5.52 billion, equivalent to 78.7% of the industry's new output value this quarter contributed by TSMC.
TSMC’s global foundry market share further increased from 72.3% in the first quarter to 72.5%, reaching a new high; compared with 70.2% in the same period in 2025, it increased by 2.3 percentage points.
In absolute terms, TSMC's single-quarter revenue increased by approximately US$4.34 billion, while the total revenue of the world's top ten wafer foundries increased by approximately US$5.52 billion, equivalent to 78.7% of the industry's new output value this quarter contributed by TSMC. (Reuters file photo)
Samsung's growth slows down, SMIC is rapidly approaching
Samsung, ranked second, had revenue of US$3.26 billion in the second quarter, an increase of 1.8% from the previous quarter. Although new orders for advanced processes, including high-bandwidth memory (HBM) basic die, have gradually increased, and the foundry prices for 5/4 nanometer and more advanced processes have also increased, the overall growth rate has significantly lagged behind its peers, and its market share has dropped from 6.5% in the first quarter to 5.9%.
The market share gap between Samsung and TSMC has widened to 66.6 percentage points, and the global wafer foundry market is dominated by a strong competitive landscape.
SMIC maintains its position as the world's third largest wafer foundry. Revenue in the second quarter increased by 20.0% quarter-on-quarter, exceeding US$3 billion for the first time, reaching US$3.006 billion, the highest growth rate among the top ten players; market share also increased from 5.1% to 5.4%.
The market share gap between SMIC and Samsung has narrowed from 1.4 percentage points in the first quarter to 0.5 percentage points, indicating increasingly fierce competition between the world's second and third largest wafer foundries.
The market share gap between Samsung, ranked second, and TSMC, ranked first, has widened to 66.6 percentage points; the market share gap with SMIC, ranked third, continues to narrow, and competition is fierce. (Reuters file photo)
Other major wafer foundries maintain growth
UMC maintained its fourth place, with revenue in the second quarter reaching US$2.175 billion, a quarterly increase of 12.7%, and its market share remained unchanged at 3.9%.
GlobalFoundries ranked fifth, with revenue of US$1.786 billion, a quarterly increase of 9.3%, but its market share dropped slightly from 3.3% to 3.2%.
Huahong Group ranked sixth, with revenue in the second quarter reaching US$1.274 billion, a quarterly increase of 3.5%, and its market share dropped from 2.5% to 2.3%.
Tower Semiconductor ranked seventh, with revenue of US$460 million, a quarterly increase of 11.2%.
In terms of eighth to tenth place, World Advanced Semiconductor (VIS)'s revenue increased by 13.8% quarterly to US$451 million, returning to eighth place; Nexchip's revenue increased by 6.4% quarterly to US$447 million, ranking ninth; Power Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.'s (PSMC) wafer foundry revenue increased by 11.9% quarterly to US$432 million, ranking tenth.
The proportion of China's major wafer foundries has rebounded slightly, but is still below its peak
Observing China's three major wafer foundry companies SMIC, Huahong Group and Jinghe Integration, the three companies' combined market share in the second quarter of 2026 is approximately 8.5%, of which SMIC accounts for 5.4%, Huahong Group accounts for 2.3%, and Jinghe Integration accounts for 0.8%.
Compared with 8.4% in the first quarter, the combined market share of the three players rebounded slightly, mainly driven by SMIC's single-quarter revenue growth of 20%.
However, the 8.5% share is still lower than the 8.8% for the whole of 2025, and is significantly lower than the high of about 9.7% in 2022. This shows that although Chinese wafer foundries have massively expanded their mature process production capacity in recent years, as the global market is growing rapidly and new demand is concentrated on advanced processes, the related capacity expansion has not yet been effectively transformed into an increase in global market share.
China's three major wafer foundry companies have a combined market share of approximately 8.5% in the second quarter of 2026. (provided by the author)
Market concentration remains high and the leading effect continues to expand
From the perspective of industrial structure, the global wafer foundry market will continue to be highly concentrated in the second quarter of 2026. The top ten wafer foundries collectively control 96.5% of the market, of which TSMC alone accounts for 72.5%.
If the top three players including TSMC, Samsung and SMIC are combined, their market share reaches 83.8%; the top five players together control 90.9% of the market.
Compared with a year ago, TSMC's market share increased by 2.3 percentage points, SMIC increased slightly by 0.3 percentage points; Samsung decreased by 1.4 percentage points, GlobalFoundries decreased by 0.7 percentage points, and UMC decreased by 0.5 percentage points.
Overall, new demand in the global foundry market continues to be concentrated among technology leaders. As AI and HPC applications accelerate, demand for advanced processes has increasingly become the main driving force for industry growth, and TSMC's technology and scale advantages have further translated into higher market share.
From 2023Q2 to 2026Q2, the world's top ten wafer foundry markets continue to be highly concentrated. (provided by the author)
(The author is my country’s representative in Singapore)
