Who are the largest foundries for mature nodes?

We all know TSMC is world's leading semiconductor foundry but there are a ton of other companies that make chips for fabless designers. A new report from Counterpoint Technology Market Research has some interesting analysis and charts. If you've ever wondered who the biggest semiconductor foundries for mature nodes are, you can view it in the chart below. The graph offers an overview of the foundry capacity share in mature nodes, which is defined as 40nm and below. A lot of production still happens on old nodes, and not cutting-edge stuff, which is why Samsung only ranks fourth in this chart. Samsung is primarily focused on cutting-edge production.

When we summarize the capacity shares of the world’s top 10 foundries (Exhibit 2), the capex for their legacy nodes (defined by 40-nanometer and below, including the capacities in 8-inch fabs) is only allocated to select applications in 2021. For example, despite a strong 8-inch wafer demand, UMC recently announced to increase its 200 mm fab capacity only by 1-3% in 2021. The wafer supply uncertainties also emerge from the US ban on SMIC, which accounts for about 10% of the global foundry supply in matured nodes. Overall, we view the shortage as a structural issue before inventory relief builds across the supply chain by 2022.

Via: WCCF Tech