TSMC Expands Market Share to 71% in Foundry Sector

Taiwan’s TSMC continues its overwhelming dominance in the global foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing) market by expanding its market share. Samsung Electronics maintained its second place but saw its market share decrease by 1 percentage point.

According to market research firm Counterpoint Research on Oct. 10, TSMC held 71% of the pure-play foundry market share in the second quarter of this year, ranking first. TSMC’s market share increased by 3 percentage points from the previous quarter (68%) and by 6 percentage points in a year compared to the same period last year (65%).

In the second quarter of this year, the pure-play foundry market saw a 33% increase in overall market sales compared to the same period last year, driven by the expansion of the artificial intelligence (AI) industry increasing semiconductor demand, coupled with China’s subsidy policies. It is interpreted that TSMC absorbed most of the increased market sales.

Counterpoint Research explained, “TSMC recorded a 71% market share in the pure-play foundry market in the second quarter of 2025,” adding that this was “due to the expansion of 3nm (nanometer, 1 billionth of a meter) process mass production, high utilization rates of 4 and 5nm processes following AI graphics processing unit (GPU) demand, and the expansion of CoWoS.” CoWoS, short for chip-on-wafer-on-substrate, is an advanced packaging technology developed by TSMC.

Samsung Electronics secured second place with an 8% market share. However, its market share decreased by 1 percentage point compared to the first quarter and by 2 percentage points compared to the same period last year. Counterpoint Research stated, “Samsung Electronics maintained its second place in market share due to the recovery in smartphones and other consumer devices.”

SMIC ranked third with a 5% market share, down 1 percentage point from the previous quarter. SMIC continues to benefit from Chinese government subsidy policies and is expected to transition to more advanced processes.

Taiwan’s UMC ranked fourth (5%), followed by U.S.-based GlobalFoundries in fifth place (4%). Counterpoint Research projected, “In the second half of 2025, the utilization rate of advanced processes and the overall wafer shipments of foundry companies are expected to continue increasing.”