Global foundry revenue in the second quarter of 2021 hit an all-time high due to increased orders driven by high chip demand from ODMs/OEMs and chronic chip shortages.

According to the latest research by TrendForce, the revenue of the top 10 global foundries in the second quarter of 2021 reached $24.407 billion, a 6.2% increase from $22.971 billion in the first quarter. The market share of the top 10 companies reached 97%.

These results were analyzed to be due to the fact that ODM/OEM chip demand remained high, failing to meet shipment targets due to a shortage of foundry capacity, along with increased demand following COVID-19, the transition to 5G communication, geopolitical tensions, and chronic chip shortages.

TSMC, the industry leader, recorded $13.3 billion in revenue in the second quarter, up 3.1% from the previous quarter.

Although TSMC easily outperformed other foundries with a market share of 52.9%, it suffered disruptions that affected its performance, including the disposal of some wafers for the 40nm and 16nm nodes due to a power outage at Fab14 P7 in April and the temporary shutdown of production lines due to another power outage in May.

Samsung increased by 5.5% from the previous quarter to $4.334 billion. The market share recorded 17.3%.

Samsung’s Line S2 fab in Austin, which recovered from the winter storm that swept through Texas last February, fully resumed manufacturing operations in April. The fab is currently operating at full capacity, manufacturing for additional customer orders to compensate for a 1.5-month loss in wafer input due to idle periods resulting from the winter storm.

Although a sharp decline in wafer input in the first quarter somewhat limited Samsung's production and revenue growth in the second quarter, the foundry business still recorded revenue growth up 5.5% from the previous quarter thanks to strong customer demand for CIS, 5G RF transceivers, and OLED driver ICs.

Following this, UMC ranked 3rd with $1.819 billion, GlobalFoundries ranked 4th with $1.522 billion, and SMIC ranked 5th with $1.344 billion.

Following this, Hwahong Group ranked 6th with $658 million, PSMC 7th with $459 million, VIS 8th with $363 million, Tower 9th with $362 million, and DB HiTek 10th with $245 million.