Both TSMC and Samsung Foundry appear to have lost some semiconductor revenue in the first quarter of 2023, but even so, the balance between the two market leaders has shifted in favor of TSMC.
Market researchers at TrendForce estimate that Samsung Foundry's market share stood at 12.4% n Q1 2023, down from 15.8% in the previous quarter. Meanwhile, TSMC increased its market share from 58.5% in Q4 2022 to 60.1% in Q1 2023.
Samsung recorded a 36.1% quarter-on-quarter revenue loss in Q1 2023 after securing $3.45 billion. However, in Q4 2022, Samsung Foundry recorded $5.39 billion in revenue, which means that the company lost nearly $2 billion in one quarter.
TSMC's quarterly revenue was almost 5x higher. 3nm chips might save Samsung
Comparatively, TSMC's revenue in Q1 2023 dropped only by 16.2%. And next to Samsung, the semiconductor giant recorded revenue of $16.7 billion in Q1 2023 and $19.9 billion in Q4 2022.
TrendForce says Samsung's staggering 36.1% QoQ revenue decline happened because the company's 8-inch and 12-inch wafer capacities saw lower utilization rates.
Thankfully for Samsung, market watchers say that the introduction of new chips based on 3nm manufacturing processes should contribute to higher revenue in Q2 2023. 3nm chips should offset some of the company's losses and slow down the rate of decline.
In Q1 2023, TSMC was the market leader, followed by Samsung Foundry and GlobalFoundries. The latter increased its market share from 6.2% to 6.6% on-quarter but suffered a 12.4% QoQ revenue decline. As a matter of fact, it appears that every foundry in the top-10 list has suffered lower quarterly revenues, but Samsung took the biggest hit.
