It's no secret that Taiwan is home to the world's most vibrant chip foundry industry, led by TSMC and United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC). What's less well known is the 'Silicon Island' boasts manufacturing in a range of specialty semiconductor sectors as well.
Taiwan's semiconductor manufacturing (fabrication) industry can be split into three main parts, the chip foundry companies such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC), the memory chip makers, like Winbond Electronics Corp. and Nanya Technology Corp., as well as several specialty chip makers.
Taiwan's Top 10 Chip Manufacturers
Company | Rank 2022 | 2022 Revenue | Growth | Sector |
TSMC | 1 | NT$2.26 trillion | 42.6% | Foundry |
UMC | 2 | NT$278.7 billion | 30.8% | Foundry |
Winbond | 3 | NT$94.5 billion | -5.1% | Memory |
Powerchip | 4 | NT$76.1 billion | 16.0% | Foundry |
Nanya Tech | 5 | NT$56.9 billion | -33.5% | Memory |
Vanguard | 6 | NT$51.7billion | 17.6% | Foundry |
Macronix | 7 | NT$43.5 billion | -14.0% | Memory |
Nuvoton | 8 | NT$41.9billion | 1.0% | Specialty |
Win Semi | 9 | NT$18.3 billion | -30.0% | GaAs Foundry |
Episil Tech | 10 | NT$8.9 billion | 22.2% | Si/SiC/GaN Foundry |
Total | | NT$2.93 trillion | 32.1% | |
Revenue among Taiwan's top 10 chip manufacturers rose 32.1% in 2022 to NT$2.93 trillion, up from NT$2.22 trillion in 2021. It was a banner year for foundry.
The four (silicon) foundry chip makers in the table above all reported record high full year revenue, led by global foundry leader TSMC. TSMC's revenue grew 42.6% year-on-year to NT$2.26 trillion in 2022, from NT$1.59 trillion a year earlier, the top growth among all of Taiwan's chip manufacturers. The secret is in its advanced process technologies, which command the highest prices in the industry. UMC, Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. (PSMC) and Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp. (VIS) all use older, mature process technologies in their fabs.
TSMC's focus on cutting edge technology makes a big difference in its financial success.
Perhaps this is a better way to view how big TSMC's piece of the revenue pie among Taiwan semiconductor manufacturers really is (below).
Taiwan's three big memory chip makers, Winbond, Nanya Technology and Macronix International, all saw revenue decline in 2022 from 2021. A slowdown in PC and smartphone sales hurt memory chip makers most last year.
The remaining three chip fabricators in the top 10 all make different types of chips. Nuvoton mainly produces microcontroller units (MCUs) for a range of end products, including smartphones, displays, vehicles, and factory automation. It gained new power management chip products with the purchase of Panasonic's semiconductor division in 2020, and also markets a number of other chip products, including Arm-based processors, ASICs, and embedded controllers for cloud computing.
Win Semiconductor and Episil Technologies both operate as foundries for compound, or 3rd generation semiconductors, that are etched on materials other than silicon. Win Semi is Taiwan's leading GaAs (Gallium Arsenide) wafer fabricator, producing mainly power amplifiers (PA) for smartphones, WiFi and other wireless products. Episil specializes in silicon carbide (SiC) and Gallium Nitride (GaN).
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