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Market outlook diverges: Samsung accelerates US expansion despite yield risks. Rising memory costs slow SMIC and Nexchip, while AI orders boost HuaHong. GlobalFoundries significantly increases capex for localization in US and EU.
The Platinum reports provide analyses of the foundry industry, starting from TrendForce’s memory industry analysis and application demand in the downstream, extending to the semiconductor upstream, encompassing wafer production capacity, process node roadmap, and capacity utilization of each fab. The Platinum reports provide detailed analyses of foundries' competitiveness and capacity utilization rates, specifically focusing on major players including TSMC, UMC, Samsung, SMIC, and GlobalFoundries, etc.. The Platinum reports also discuss the future outlook of the foundry market.
AI fuels HBM/storage price hikes, pushing Memory revenue past Foundry. While weak mature nodes and capacity barriers slow Foundry, Memory's output efficiency and price volatility drive its market dominance through 2026.
Samsung rebounds via advanced nodes and US fab restart. SMIC and Nexchip enhance HV tech amid pricing pressure. HuaHong optimizes fab allocation. Smaller foundries slow expansion due to technical hurdles, showing a market split between advanced and mature nodes.
AI drives TSMC's expansion and upgraded targets. Vanguard sees rising utilization and prices via power ICs. UMC grows steadily, while PSMC rebounds through memory demand.
Driven by accelerated 8-inch capacity cuts by TSMC and Samsung, coupled with rising demand for AI power components and panic stocking across the supply chain, the global supply-demand structure for 8-inch wafers is tightening. This significant rebound in utilization rates has prompted major Chinese, Korean, and Taiwanese foundries to initiate price hike strategies.
Intel is expanding advanced packaging globally to secure CSP orders but trails TSMC in yield and turnkey solutions. Despite EMIB's technical challenges, the growing AI market offers opportunities for both, moving beyond a zero-sum game.
NVIDIA's H200 supply upside is limited by tight advanced packaging and memory capacity prioritized for new platforms. While targeting the Chinese market, geopolitical risks are driving China to accelerate domestic chip autonomy and in-house ASIC development, expanding local market share.
Samsung to focus on advanced nodes in 2026 with full capacity utilization; SMIC to raise 8-inch and memory foundry prices on strong demand; HuaHong to expand capacity and advance specialty platforms; GlobalFoundries to develop automotive BCD and 22nm Bulk CMOS to win orders; Nexchip to outperform peers on localization and ramp OLED driver IC mass production with tier-one customers.
The recent Taiwan earthquake caused brief stoppages and minor wafer scrap in northern fabs. With no major facility damage and spare capacity available for makeup, operations are recovering strictly. The overall financial and operational impact is assessed as minimal.
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