In case you haven’t recently attempted to buy one of the best graphics cards or best CPUs for your custom PC, here’s the state of the market: It’s messed up. Thanks to a global semiconductor shortage that’s been ravaging supplies of most major PC components, demand for tech has never been higher — meaning the foundries responsible for the basis of said tech are making a killing.
That’s the takeaway from a report provided by TrendForce, which highlights that foundry revenue hit a record high yet again, marking the eighth quarter in a row where that’s happened. In short, since Q3 2019, every quarter’s smashed the existing ceiling. This time around, revenue reached $24.407 billion, which is a 6.2% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) increase compared to Q1 2021’s figures.
To break down that massive $24 billion figure, know that $13.3 billion of it was thanks to TSMC, which blew the competition out of the water. Samsung came in at a distant second with $4.334 billion, while SMIC came in fifth with $1.344 billion in its ongoing attempt to build up China for its chipmaking war with the U.S. Though fifth place isn’t impressive by itself, consider that SMIC grew by 21.8% QoQ to achieve that revenue haul, granting it 5.3% of the total foundry market share.
Even though Q2 2021’s overall figures were influenced by price hikes, record-smashing numbers are still record-smashing numbers. It remains to be seen whether TSMC, Samsung, and the rest of the pack can keep the momentum going into Q3 2021.
