Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) remained the world’s third-largest IC supplier in the first quarter of this year, while MediaTek Inc (聯發科) was the industry’s 10th-largest firm, moving up six spots from the previous quarter, advisory firm IC Insights said on Tuesday.
Contract chipmaker TSMC posted sales of US$12.91 billion, up 25 percent from a year earlier, IC Insights said in a report.
TSMC benefited from strong global demand for emerging technologies such as 5G applications, and high-performance computing and Internet of Things devices, the report said.
Photo: Bloomberg
Sales at MediaTek, Taiwan’s largest IC designer, grew 90 percent year-on-year to US$3.85 billion, it said.
On the back of strong shipments of 5G chips, MediaTek overtook six of its rivals, including Infineon Technologies AG of Germany, which posted US$3.25 billion in sales, and STMicroelectronics NV of Switzerland, which posted US$3.01 billion in sales, the report said.
MediaTek’s growth in the first quarter was the second-largest among companies in the ranking, behind Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) of the US, which advanced from 18th to 11th place on the back of a 93 percent sales increase to US$3.45 billion.
MediaTek and AMD replaced China’s HiSilicon Technologies Inc (海思半導體) and Japan’s Sony Corp in the top 15.
HiSilicon, which ranked 12th in last year’s ranking, is the semiconductor design division of telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies Co (華為), which accounts for more than 90 percent of its sales.
Since the fourth quarter of last year, US sanctions impeded HiSilicon from purchasing ICs from its main supplier, TSMC, the report said.
The worldwide largest IC firm was Intel Corp of the US, defending its top spot despite a year-on-year decline in sales of 4 percent to US$18.68 billion, it said.
South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co remained in second place, posting sales of US$17.07 billion, up 15 percent from a year earlier, it said.
TSMC was trailed by South Korean DRAM chipmaker SK Hynix Inc in fourth place, posting sales of US$7.63 billion, the report said.
US firms ranked fifth to ninth: Micron Technology Co with US$6.58 billion in sales, Qualcomm Inc with US$6.28 billion, Broadcom Inc with US$4.84 billion, Nvidia Corp with US$4.63 billion and Texas Instruments Inc with US$4.03 billion, the report said.
Apple Inc ranked 13th with its chip division posting sales of US$3.08 billion, it said.
Japan’s Kioxia Corp claimed the last spot on the list with sales of US$2.59 billion, the report said.
The top 15 IC firms posted a combined US$101.86 billion in sales, up 21 percent from a year earlier, IC Insights said.
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