In analyzing the IC industry’s installed wafer capacity for its new Global Wafer Capacity 2023 report, Knometa Research compiled data to identify the top companies in the segments of leading-edge, lagging-edge, mature, and large-feature technologies. At the end of 2022, Samsung, Micron, and SK Hynix accounted for 76% of leading-edge capacity, with the vast majority of it for advanced DRAM and 3D NAND production. In general, capacity was considered leading-edge if the wafers fabricated used fine-geometry processes that entered mass production roughly within the past two years. Examples:
- Leading edge: 3-6nm foundry, 4-7nm Intel MPU, 11-14nm DRAM, ≥176L 3D NAND
- Lagging edge: 7-16nm foundry, 10-14nm Intel MPU, 15-20nm DRAM, 64-144L 3D NAND
- Mature: 20nm-0.11µm logic, >20nm DRAM
- Large feature: ≥0.13µm processes
Samsung was the industry’s biggest source of both leading- and lagging-edge capacity at the end of 2022. The company is the industry’s top supplier of DRAM and NAND flash memory products and one of the largest manufacturers of advanced logic products such as low-power, high-performance application processors for Samsung’s smartphones and SoCs for the fabless semiconductor industry.
TSMC, the industry’s top pure-play foundry, ranked among the top five companies in all four of the process generation groups. TSMC caters to a wide variety of customers with 39 fab lines providing a diverse portfolio of process technologies. Other pure-play foundries like UMC and SMIC play prominent roles in the mature technology segment.
As the industry’s leading supplier of analog and analog-centric mixed-signal ICs, Texas Instruments was the largest source of capacity for large-feature technologies at the end of the year. STMicroelectronics is among the industry’s biggest suppliers of analog and microcontroller products, which are commonly made with mature and large-feature processes.
Rankings beyond the top five shown here are provided in the Global Wafer Capacity 2023 report.
