Worldwide Semiconductor Foundry Market Grew 16.1 Percent in 2014

The worldwide semiconductor foundry market grew 16.1 percent in 2014 to achieve $46.9 billion in revenue, according to final results by Gartner.

"2014 has been the third consecutive year when foundries have achieved impressive 16 percent revenue growth," said Samuel Wang, research vice president at Gartner. "A number of factors have made 2014 a robust year for foundries — inventory stocking in the second quarter by customers, increase of units sold in ultramobiles, the strength of the Apple's supply chain riding the success of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus in the second half of the year, a conversion of integrated device manufacturer (IDM) revenue to foundry revenue and wafer demand from the early adoption of wearables."

Among the top players, the leader, TSMC, gained market share to reach 53.7 percent, up from 49.8 percent in 2013 (see Table 1). TSMC increased its revenue by $5 billion in just one year due to the success of advanced technologies of 28 nanometers (nm) and 20 nm. Returning to the No. 2 position, United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC) had $4.62 billion revenue in 2014, representing 9.9 percent of the foundry market share, thanks to its recent catch-up of 28-nm technology. The No. 3 position went to Global foundries with $4.4 billion revenue, representing 9.4 percent of the market.