According to the latest semiconductor foundry industry research from TrendForce, the fourth quarter of 2025 saw continued strong performance from advanced process nodes, driven by shortages in AI server GPUs and Google TPUs, alongside new smartphone launches boosting demand for mobile application processors. For mature processes, sustained orders for power management chips in servers and edge AI applications kept 8-inch wafer capacity utilization high, with price increases being considered. Combined with largely stable 12-inch capacity utilization, these factors pushed the collective revenue of the world's top ten foundries up 2.6% quarter-over-quarter to approximately $46.3 billion. For the full year 2025, the combined revenue of the top ten foundries reached around $169.5 billion, a significant year-on-year increase of 26.3%, setting a new record.
Looking ahead to 2026, while inventory building for some consumer products in the first half may stabilize capacity utilization, concerns remain for the second half. Order visibility and capacity utilization face uncertainty due to pressure on mainstream end-device shipments and weakening demand, largely attributed to high memory prices.
**Performance of Major Foundries**
* **TSMC**: Despite a slight decrease in total wafer shipments in Q4 2025, TSMC's revenue grew 2% to $33.7 billion, driven by shipments of new 3nm wafers for flagship smartphone APs, including the iPhone 17, which increased the overall average selling price (ASP). TSMC maintained its leading position with a 70.4% market share. * **Samsung Foundry**: Samsung Foundry (excluding System LSI) saw Q4 2025 revenue increase 6.7% to nearly $3.4 billion. This growth was fueled by initial revenue contributions from new 2nm products and the start of production for logic dies used in its own HBM4 memory, offsetting a slight decline in overall capacity utilization. The company returned to profitability, and its market share edged up from 6.8% to 7.1%, securing the second position. * **Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC)**: Ranked third, SMIC continued to benefit from localization trends. Its Q4 revenue rose 4.5% quarter-over-quarter to nearly $2.49 billion, driven by an increase in total wafer shipments, a slight rise in ASP, and additional revenue from mask shipments near the year-end. * **UMC**: UMC maintained stable order momentum from major customers across both its 8-inch and 12-inch fabs in Q4 2025. With capacity utilization flat compared to the previous quarter, revenue grew 0.9% to about $2.0 billion, keeping it in fourth place by market share. * **GlobalFoundries**: Ranked fifth, GlobalFoundries experienced growth in both wafer shipments and ASP in Q4 2025 due to increased demand for data center-related components. Revenue increased 8.4% to $1.8 billion. * **HuaHong Group**: In sixth place, HuaHong Group's revenue was driven by its subsidiary HHGrace, which saw a 3.9% quarterly revenue increase fueled by demand for MCUs and PMICs. After consolidating revenue from HLMC, the group's total revenue reached nearly $1.22 billion, up 0.1% from the previous quarter. * **Tower Semiconductor**: Notably, Tower Semiconductor saw robust growth in shipments for niche applications like Silicon Photonics (SiPho) and Silicon Germanium (SiGe) for servers in Q4 2025. Revenue surged 11.1% to $440 million, elevating its rank to seventh place, surpassing both Vanguard and Nexchip. * **Vanguard**: Vanguard's Q4 2025 revenue declined 1.6% to $406 million, ranking eighth. The decrease was attributed to weaker DDIC orders and shipment issues related to validation problems with a major PMIC customer across different fabrication lines. * **Nexchip**: Ranked ninth, Nexchip's Q4 revenue fell 5.3% to $388 million. The primary reason was the deliberate postponement of some product shipments to Q1 2026, as the company had already achieved its shipment and revenue targets for 2025. * **PSMC**: PSMC (including only memory and logic foundry revenue) reported a 2% revenue increase in Q4 2025 to approximately $370 million, ranking tenth. This growth was supported by strong demand for memory foundry services and higher ASPs, while its logic foundry business remained stable.
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