TSMC now controls 72.5% of the foundry market, and AI is filling its factories

TSMC held an estimated 72.5% of global foundry revenue in the second quarter of 2026, leaving Samsung Foundry on 5.9%. The figure matters because the AI boom is not only a contest between model makers and chip designers. It is also concentrating the manufacturing capacity beneath them in one very large factory network.

TSMC Watch analysis

What happened

NeoTeo reports that TSMC’s estimated foundry share rose from 72.3% in the first quarter to 72.5% in the second. Its foundry revenue reached nearly US$40.2bn, up 12.1% from the previous quarter.

The ranking measures revenue from contract foundry services, not the number of chips made or shipped worldwide. TSMC was followed by Samsung Foundry at 5.9%, SMIC at 5.4%, UMC and GlobalFoundries.

The same analysis links TSMC’s performance to strong demand for AI-server GPUs and XPUs, fully booked 5nm, 4nm and 3nm capacity, early inventory building for new iPhones and initial revenue from 2nm. Those factors are associated with the result, not proven to be individually responsible for the market-share figure.

Why it matters

For companies building AI hardware, access to leading-edge manufacturing is becoming a strategic constraint. Nvidia, AMD and other chip designers can create powerful architectures, but they still need a foundry with the process technology and capacity to produce them at scale.

TSMC’s lead also exposes a concentration risk. A market share this large brings efficiency and expertise, but it means disruptions, capacity shortages or delays at one manufacturer can ripple through a sizeable chunk of the computing industry. The glamour is in the model demo. The leverage sits somewhere under a clean-room roof.

Our read

This is a useful factory-floor measure of the AI boom, not a claim that TSMC makes three-quarters of every semiconductor. Revenue share favours companies selling more expensive, advanced services, and the supplied analysis does not isolate exactly how much of TSMC’s growth came from AI.

Even with that boundary, the picture is clear: AI demand is strengthening the position of the company that manufactures much of the most advanced silicon. The next competitive battle may be less about who can design a faster accelerator and more about who can secure a production slot.

What to watch

• Whether TSMC’s foundry share continues rising as 2nm production scales.
• Whether Samsung and other rivals can win meaningful advanced-node customers.
• How long TSMC’s leading-edge capacity remains fully booked.
• Whether chip designers respond by diversifying manufacturing rather than relying so heavily on one foundry. Sources and evidence: NeoTeo, published 25 September 2026, supplied the Q2 estimates and the comparison with Samsung, SMIC, UMC and GlobalFoundries. The market-share and revenue figures are attributed to that analysis.

Discussion spark: Does TSMC’s 72.5% foundry share make the AI supply chain more efficient, or dangerously dependent on one manufacturer?

Independent WittyWires tracker for public updates about TSMC. Not affiliated with or endorsed by TSMC; this is not an official account.