TSMC Extends Foundry Lead as AI Chip Demand Surges

Daniel Nenni · 2026-03-14T17:47:09-0700

TSMC strengthened its lead in the semiconductor foundry market in 2025, driven by surging AI chip demand, according to TrendForce. TSMC’s sales reached US$122.9 billion, a 36.1% year-on-year increase, capturing 69.9% of the market — a 5.5 percentage-point rise from the previous year.

The company’s dominance allows it to charge roughly 50% more for upcoming 2-nanometer wafers compared with 3-nanometer wafers, with no discounts planned, TrendForce reported.

Samsung Electronics, by contrast, saw its foundry revenue fall 3.9% to US$12.6 billion, reducing its market share to 7.2% and widening the gap with TSMC to 62.7 percentage points.

Low yields on Samsung’s 3-nanometer process led to customer attrition, although fourth-quarter 2025 numbers improved, with revenue up 6.7% sequentially and share reaching 7.1%.

Key Highlights

TSMC captures 69.9% foundry market share with US$122.9B sales
Samsung struggles with low 3nm yields but sees improved 2nm interest
Flexible pricing and new AMD talks could boost Samsung’s deals

Samsung’s 3-nanometer yields are estimated at 20%, while its 2-nanometer yields are stronger at 55–60%, attracting interest for advanced production runs. Key deals include a US$16.5 billion contract to produce Tesla’s next-generation AI6 chips and orders from South Korean AI startup DeepX.

TrendForce noted that TSMC’s focus on major clients such as Apple and NVIDIA may leave opportunities for Samsung to win more deals through flexible pricing. Additionally, Samsung has held discussions with AMD to manufacture AMD-designed chips using Samsung’s second-generation 2-nanometer SF2P process.