TSMC Likely to Remain No. 1 in 4th Quarter
Taiwan’s TSMC, the No. 1 player in the foundry sector, ranked first among semiconductor companies in terms of sales in the third quarter of the year. Samsung Electronics and Intel, which previously competed for the top spot in the semiconductor sales rankings, both suffered earning shocks.
TSMC racked up 613.1 billion Taiwan dollars (about 27.5 trillion won) in sales in the third quarter of this year, up 48 percent from the same period of 2021.
Samsung Electronics, which announced its provisional business results on Oct. 7, did not disclose its semiconductor sales separately. But they are estimated at 24 trillion to 25 trillion won in the third quarter. Intel’s sales forecast for the third quarter, scheduled to be announced on Oct. 27, stands at 21 trillion won.
Previously, the battle for the first spot in semiconductor sales was between Samsung Electronics and Intel. Samsung's flagship product is memories, while Intel's main product is PC processors. Both struggled with sluggish demand from downstream industries such as PCs and smartphones, but TSMC’s main business, foundry, remained strong.
TSMC is highly likely to keep the top spot in sales in the fourth quarter in light of the accelerating drop in memory semiconductor prices. According to TrendForce, DRAM prices fell 10 percent to 15 percent in the third quarter and are expected to drop another 13 percent to 18 percent in the fourth quarter. NAND flash prices are expected to drop 15 percent to 20 percent in the final quarter.