Topology Research Institute recently released the fourth quarter global wafer foundry market rankings. According to this ranking, the global foundry output value will increase by 6% compared with the previous quarter. Among them, the top 3 market shares were 52.7% of TSMC, 17.8% of Samsung and 8% of GlobalFoundries.

TRI releases ranking of the world's top ten wafer foundries in the fourth quarter-SemiMedia

Observing the performance of the top three manufacturers in the fourth quarter, TSMC's 16, 12 and 7-nanometer process capacity continued to be fully loaded. Among them, 7nm benefited from Apple iPhone 11’s unexpected sales, AMD’s orders, and MediaTek’s first 5G SoC demand, its revenue share continued to increase.

As for Samsung, due to the market’s high expectations for 5G mobile phones in 2020, demand for its high-end 4G mobile phone application processors (AP) will slow down. However, as Qualcomm's 5G SoC produced by Samsung will be shipped at the end of the fourth quarter, it is expected to compensate for the decline in mobile phone APs. In addition, Samsung foundry performed well in 5G network communication device chips and high-resolution CMOS image sensors (CIS). It is estimated that the fourth quarter revenue is flat or slightly increased compared with the previous quarter.

Regarding GlobalFoundries, driven by 5G, the demand for RF ICs has increased. In addition, its expanded FD-SOI products in the communications and automotive sectors make up for the decrease in demand for advanced processes. The fourth quarter revenue growth is expected to turn positive.