China's largest semiconductor manufacturer SMIC has ranked third in global foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing) sales, according to a recent survey. It follows Taiwan's TSMC and South Korea's Samsung Electronics.
On the 23rd (local time), US economic media CNBC reported that market research firm Counterpoint announced SMIC's global foundry sales market share reached 6% in the first quarter of this year. This is a 1 percentage point increase from the 5% share in the same period last year, surpassing US AMD subsidiary GlobalFoundries and Taiwan's UMC for the first time.
Counterpoint explained, "SMIC's quarterly performance exceeded market expectations, and thanks to demand recovery in areas such as CIS, PMIC, Internet of Things (IoT), and DDIC, it secured third place in foundry market share for the first time." The top foundry market share is held by TSMC (62%), followed by Samsung Electronics with a 13% share.
The semiconductors produced by SMIC are used in automobiles, smartphones, computers, and IoT technologies. Huawei's smartphone Mate 60 Pro series is also known to be equipped with SMIC semiconductors.
In its earnings report earlier this month, SMIC stated that customer demand increased, resulting in first-quarter sales of $1.75 billion, a 19.7% increase compared to the same period last year. More than 80% of the sales occurred within China. It forecasted a 5-7% sales increase in the second quarter due to continued strong demand.
According to data from technology consulting firm Omdia, China consumes about 50% of the world's semiconductors. Despite SMIC's growth backed by such a solid domestic market in China, the industry still evaluates that its technological level lags behind that of TSMC and Samsung Electronics.
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