SMIC ranks third in Q1 2024 global chip foundry list, credit goes to Huawei

Counterpoint research firm recently shared the Q1 2024 global chip foundry report, in which SMIC obtained third place, and a major credit for this achievement goes to Huawei. The analysis also highlights other key aspects of the semiconductor industry.

The information reveals that SMIC scored 6% of the global chip foundry market share in the first quarter of this year. It has generated around 82% of its total revenue of $1.75 billion (made in Q1 2024) from mainland clients like Huawei Technologies.

Report also points out that SMIC has become the world’s third-largest chip foundry due to the excessive demand for image sensors (CIS), display drivers ICs, IoT, and more in China. It currently counts as a ruling chipmaker in the native region.

Further inputs note that the Q1 2024 results for SMIC are far better than expectations. This is the first time that the Chinese chipmaker made its way to the top 3 rankers in the worldwide processor foundry revenue ranking report – thanks to Huawei.

As for now, SMIC hopes for more positive outcomes in the second quarter of this year with double-digit growth, following the recovery of its chip stock in China.

SMIC

SMIC (Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation) is China’s largest chip maker that has partnered with Huawei to build advanced processors.

Despite ongoing challenges in the supply chain and U.S. sanctions, SMIC continued to take slow steps toward growth. In the pathway, Huawei has backed the company well and is working effectively to produce even more effective chips for devices.

A good example is the Pura 70 series, the Ultra variant especially that runs on the Kirin 9010 chipset. It belongs to SMIC foundry and uproots on the 7nm (N+2) process.

Let’s not forget about the return on Kirin with the Mate 60 Pro handset. Again, the Kirin 9000s chip made by SMIC helped Huawei regain its market share.

Hence SMIC and Huawei are currently going hand-in-hand, backing each other to fight against the tough U.S. trade restrictions which ultimately brought the chipmaker to the third spot in the Q1 2024 global chip foundry listing.

The report also shows that huge support from the home ground, especially Huawei flagship phones, helped SMIC to stand firm amid market challenges.

Other chipmakers:

TSMC remains at the top with 62% of the market share while Samsung has appeared in the second spot with a 13% growth – thanks to Galaxy S24. But the South Korean tech giant is still facing a weak demand for mid-to-low-end ranging phones.

UMC and GlobalFoundaries obtained fourth and fifth ranks respectively. The senior analyst at Counterpoint – Adam Chang says that even though the Q1 2024 global chip foundry revenue has declined by 5%, we could expect strong changes ahead.

“We expect the demand for AI to remain strong in 2024, and probably more upsides in 2025. However, non-AI demand remained sluggish, but we think the inventory set-up is promising after several quarters of de-stocking.”

|| Source – Counterpoint ||