TSMC Stays on Top as Samsung Falters and SMIC Rises in the Chip Market

The chip industry is witnessing a significant shift in market dynamics, with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) holding its stronghold, while Samsung Foundry struggles to keep up. TSMC, the leader in the foundry market, has maintained dominance by consistently adopting new technologies and responding to the growing demand for advanced chips. Major companies like NVIDIA, Apple, and AMD rely on TSMC to meet their chip needs, contributing to the foundry’s rising revenue levels.

Meanwhile, competitors like Samsung Foundry are struggling to innovate with newer processes, and their existing nodes have encountered significant challenges.

In Q1 2025, TSMC managed to secure 67.6% of the chip market share, showing slight growth from Q4 2024. This success is largely driven by the booming demand for AI chips, with NVIDIA playing a pivotal role in driving orders for large-scale AI clusters and hardware. Apple, too, remains a crucial customer, helping maintain TSMC’s industry leadership

. With its commitment to cutting-edge technology such as the N2 and A16 nodes and continued investment in US facilities, TSMC is well-positioned to sustain its growth trajectory.

On the flip side, Samsung Foundry has seen its market share dip to a disappointing 7.7% in Q1 2025. The firm’s struggles are primarily due to an inability to meet customer demands and a failure to deliver on previous projects. As a result, Samsung is being surpassed by China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), which has steadily grown its market share to 6.0%. SMIC’s success is largely driven by local demand from companies like Huawei, which benefits from SMIC’s advances in 7nm and DUV technology. The Chinese semiconductor sector is making strides, narrowing the gap with its Western counterparts.