After the last few years of semiconductor shortages, pure-play foundries are seeing a significant decline in revenue in the first half of 2023, according to new research from TrendForce.
The top 10 foundries in the world saw an 18.6% (or $27.3 billion) decline in first quarter revenues compared to last year due to weak end-market demand and continued impact from the off-peak season. The bad news is the decline is expected to continue in the second quarter, TrendForce said.
Source: TrendForceFoundry leader Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) lost 16.2% in the first quarter due to weak demand for laptops and smartphones that led to decline in utilization rates and revenue at the 7/6 nm and 5/4 nm processes, falling 20% and 17%, respectively.
Samsung also declined in both 8 inch and 12 inch wafer capacity utilization rates leading to a decline of 36.1% in Q1 revenue, by far the highest among the top 10 foundries.
GlobalFoundries, which climbed into the third-place position over United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC), fell 12.4% in the first quarter, but due to strong demand in the automotive, defense, industrial equipment and government applications, allowed it to surpass UMC, which lost 17.6% in the first quarter.
TrendForce said looking ahead to Q2, GF is expected to be stable with orders from the industrial internet of things (IIoT), aerospace, defense and automotive sectors supporting capacity utilization. Meanwhile, UMC’s revenue may increase in the second quarter due to stable average selling prices.
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