Foundry revenue to exceed US$100 billion in 2021

The combined revenue of the world’s top ten foundry companies is expected to exceed US$100 billion this year, according to analyst firm TrendForce.

In 2022, their combined revenue will grow by 13.3% to reach US$117.69 billion, the firm said.

The foundry industry is seeing high growth thanks to the increased demand for chips across sectors, especially in IT and automobiles.

The combined revenue of the top ten companies was US$69 billion in 2019; this grew to US85.6% in 2020, a growth of 24% year-on-year.

It will grow another 21.3% this year, TrendForce said.

TSMC is leading the way in increasing unit prices in foundry services that will continue the growth in the sector, it said.

Foundry companies’ active spending was also contributing to the growth, the analyst firm said. 

Samsung is planning to triple its foundry capacity by 2026 compared to its capacity in 2017. TSMC is planning to build new fabs in the US and Japan while Intel will also construct two new fabs in Europe.

TrendForce expected capital expenditure in the foundry sector to increase 15% year-on-year in 2022 to between US$50 billion to US$60 billion.

Expenditure in 2021 by the top ten companies is expected to be 43% higher than a year ago this year to US$50 billion.