South Korean media: China's semiconductor industry accelerates independent development, the gap between SMIC and Samsung foundry is narrowing!
On January 10, South Korean media Newsis published an article stating that in the global wafer foundry market, the gap between Samsung Electronics, ranked second, and SMIC, ranked third in China, is narrowing.
With Chinese semiconductor companies accelerating the promotion of technological self-reliance, Samsung Electronics' market share has continued to decline, and its second position is under threat.
Data from market research company TrendForce shows that Samsung Electronics' wafer foundry market share in the third quarter of last year fell by 0.5 percentage points to 6.8% from the previous quarter (7.3%).
The gap between Samsung Electronics and the top-ranked TSMC widened from 62.9 percentage points to 64.2 percentage points, while the gap between Samsung Electronics and the third-ranked Chinese SMIC narrowed from 2.2 percentage points to 1.7 percentage points.
Samsung Electronics' wafer foundry market share has declined for several consecutive quarters. In the fourth quarter of 2024, its market share was as high as 8.1%, but it has been continuously declining since last year, dropping to 7.7% in the first quarter, 7.3% in the second quarter, and further to 6.8% in the third quarter.
Samsung Electronics' wafer foundry sales revenue in the third quarter increased from 3.159 billion USD in the second quarter to 3.184 billion USD, an increase of 0.8 percentage points, but this growth was lower than that of TSMC (9.3%) and SMIC (7.8%).
Therefore, Samsung Electronics' position is being weakened. It lags behind TSMC in advanced process areas requiring high technical capabilities, and lags behind SMIC in cost-effective and mature process areas. People are increasingly worried that due to SMIC's growth, Samsung Electronics' second-place position may be threatened.
Despite U.S. export restrictions, SMIC is expanding its business in advanced process technologies.
Industry analysts said that although SMIC is not as technologically advanced as TSMC and Samsung Electronics in sub-5nm ultra-fine technology, it has successfully achieved significant technological improvements using only old equipment.
SMIC plans to more than double its 7nm chip capacity this year.
The company is also developing 5nm processes, which are expected to be fully launched this year. Considering that SMIC initially mainly used mature 28nm processes, this demonstrates its rapid pace of technological advancement.
A South Korean industry insider said, "SMIC will further increase its technological investment next year, and Samsung Electronics must also stabilize yield rates and ensure orders from major technology companies to enhance its competitiveness."
Original: toutiao.com/article/1853929438090250/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.