Top 10 Semiconductor Foundries of The World in 2023

Know the Top 10 Semiconductor Foundries in the world here as of 2023

A semiconductor foundry (commonly called a fab; also known as a semiconductor fabrication plant) is a factory where devices such as Integrated Circuits (IC) are manufactured.

The operation of a semiconductor fab done by a business for the purpose of fabricating the designs of companies such as fabless semiconductor companies is known as a foundry.

A pure-play semiconductor foundry is a foundry that does not also produce its own designs and if a foundry makes its own designs, it’s called an integrated device manufacturer (IDM). So, we have heard of the names TSMC, Samsung and more, but here we will give you a complete list of the Top 10 Semiconductor Foundries of The World in 2023.

Here are the Top 10 Semiconductor Foundries in the World

1. TSMC

This comes as no surprise as the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Limited (TSMC) has been the leader of the market for many years now. The world’s most valuable semiconductor company, TSMC is one of the biggest companies in Taiwan and the world’s largest dedicated independent (pure-play) semiconductor foundry. It generated a massive revenue of $71.66 billion, making it the king in our Top 10 Semiconductor Foundries in The World list.

With a global capacity of about 13 million 300mm equivalent wafers per year, the Taiwanese company makes chips for customers with process nodes from 2 microns to 3 nanometers. Some of the biggest customers of TSMC include Apple and Huawei. 

As per the latest report from Counterpoint Research, TSMC has a massive 60% command over the market as of Q4 2022. Driven by strong 5/4nm wafer output, TSMC continued to gain global semiconductor market share through Q4 2022 with key competitors flat or declining.

2. Samsung Electronics

Samsung Electronics started working on the foundry business in 2006 and positioned it as one of the strategic pillars for semiconductor growth. Since then, Samsung has been a leader in semiconductor device fabrication and has always been competing with TSMC for the top spot. The huge investment this South Korean giant has been doing continuously resulted in gaining the second spot in our Top 10 Semiconductor Foundries of The World list.

In 2010, the company began mass-production of a 20 nm class semiconductor manufacturing process, followed by a 10 nm class (chips made using process technologies between 10 and 20 nm) Fin Field Effect Transistor (FinFET) process in 2013, and a 7 nm FinFET nodes in 2018. They also began production of the first 5 nm nodes in late 2018, it is its own biggest customer as Samsung is also one of the leaders in electronic products. 

As per a latest report from Counterpoint, Samsung Foundries has only 13% market share as of Q4 2022.

3. GlobalFoundries 

GlobalFoundries is an American company created by the divestiture of the manufacturing arm of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). The firm manufactures ICs in high volume mostly for its customers including AMD, Qualcomm, STMicroelectronics, and Broadcom. It has three wafer fabrication plants (one 200mm and two 300m) in the USA, five 200 mm plants in Singapore, and one 300 mm plant each in Germany and Singapore.

Though not many know about the company which was once a giant, however, it has slowed down in the race and currently, it makes mature nodes like 14nm, 28nm and others, making it to the Top 10 Semiconductor Foundries of The World list even in 2023.

4. UMC

United Microelectronics Corporation is another Taiwanese company on the list and was founded as Taiwan’s first semiconductor company in 1980. It has four 300 mm fabs, one each in Taiwan, Singapore, China, and Japan. It manufactures integrated circuit wafers for fabless semiconductor companies. 

The Taiwanese giant makes mature nodes like 28 nm, 40 nm and more which find their applications in various devices worldwide, so rightfully gains the third spot on our Top 10 Semiconductor Foundries of The World list. UMC has been growing steadily with 6% market share as per latest report from Counterpoint Research.

5. SMIC

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) is a Chinese semiconductor foundry with wafer fabrication sites all over mainland China. Broadcom, Qualcomm, and Texas Instruments are some of its customers for its IC manufacturing services on 350 nm to 14 nm process technologies.

In recent years after the US put a ban on SMIC, the Chinese manufacturer has been developing nodes in-house and is poised to make better 7nm nodes in future and hopefully catch giants like TSMC or Samsung. This helps SMIC to get into our Top 10 Semiconductor Foundries of The World in 2023 list undoubtedly.

6. Tower Semiconductor

Tower Semiconductor is an Israeli-American company that manufactures speciality analogue ICs for semiconductor companies such as Broadcom, Intel, Panasonic, Samsung, Teledyne, Semtech, and Skyworks Solutions. The company operates seven manufacturing facilities scattered in Israel and America with five of 200mm and one each of 150mm and 30mm.

7. Powerchip 

Powerchip Technology Corporation is a Chinese company formerly known as Powerchip Semiconductor Corp. that manufactures and sells semiconductor products, in particular memory chips and other ICs. The company owns two 8-inch and three 12-inch wafer fabs with around 7,000 employees. 

8. VIS

Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation, formerly a subcontractor for TSMC primarily focusing on DRAM production, in 2004 transformed into a pure-play foundry service. The Taiwanese company is sponsored by the Industrial Technology Research Institute. It manufactures ICs and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) as well as analogue/mixed-signal chips

9. Hua Hong Semi

Hua Hong Semi is a pure-play Chinese semiconductor foundry. According to Bloomberg, it primarily focuses on the research and manufacturing of semiconductors on 200mm wafers for speciality applications, including embedded non-volatile memory and power discrete. The Chinese company’s products are used in consumer electronics, computing, industrial, communication, and automotive markets in China, the US, Europe, Japan, and other Asian countries, deserving a place in our Top 10 Semiconductor Foundries of The World in 2023 list.

10. DB HiTek

DB HiTek Co., Ltd. operates as an IC foundry company in South Korea. According to information provided by Bloomberg, the company provides comprehensive foundry services and designs and manufactures system ICs. It was formerly known as Dongbu HiTek Co., Ltd. It offers process technologies nodes ranging from 90nm to 0.35um that enable the production of advanced ICs. It was founded in 1953 and is based in Bucheon, South Korea, making it into the Top 10 Semiconductor Foundries of The World in 2023 list.

According to MarketReportsWorld, they have “been monitoring the global semiconductor foundry market and it is poised to grow by USD 26.47 bn during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of 7% during the forecast period.”

This was our Top 10 Semiconductor Foundries of The World in 2023 list, don’t confuse this with the semiconductor companies in terms of revenue as these are all pure foundries. Anything to suggest for our Top 10 Semiconductor Foundries of The World in 2023 list? Do let us know in the comments!

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