SAN FRANCISCO , Aug. 15, 2018 –
More than 30 years after it served as the setting for the birth of the semiconductor foundry industry with the founding of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) in 1987, Taiwan shows no sign of relinquishing its stranglehold on the $62 billion global business.
TSMC remains, by far, the world's largest foundry, with 2017 revenue of $32.2 billion, more than five times that of second-ranked vendor Globalfoundries, according to market research firm IC Insights. TSMC accounted for nearly 52% of the worldwide total for the foundry industry last year.
Taiwan is also home to the world's third-largest foundry, United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC), and the sixth-largest company in foundry sales, Powerchip Technology Corp. Combined, TSMC, UMC, and Powerchip accounted for 62% of all foundry sales last year.