Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) has become the world’s largest semiconductor chip supplier surpassing the long time winner Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), backed by rising demand for mobile devices. For the second quarter of 2013, TSMC sold $11.98 billion worth of semiconductors ahead of Intel, which sold $11.79 billion in the same quarter, reports Fudzilla.
TSMC further upgrading
TSMC is further striding with upgrades to its four 8-inch wafer plans to supply parts for the wearable device market. According to IC insights, the value of the semiconductor market will swell to $271 billion this year with wafer foundries contributing 16 percent.
TSMC’s Fab 3, Fab 5, Fab 6 and Fab 8 are expected to be transformed into plants, which can produce chips to be fixed in wearable devices, fingerprint readers, microelectronic components, optical sensors and auto-electronic components.
According to semiconductor manufacturing equipment suppliers, TSMC has also manufactured highly advanced process technologies like 20nm and 16nm Fin FET. TSMC is expected to increase its capital expenditure from $10 billion this year to $12 billion by 2014.
Intel still leads in revenues
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), on the other hand, has made significant progress with its Bay TrailT. Intel has posted better profit and revenues than TSMC. Sales revenue posted by TSMC was $17.1 billion, whereas Intel posted $53.3 billion in revenues.
In separate news, Apple recently upgraded its desktop with faster Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) chips and better support for flash memory storage. New iMacs will be powered by fourth-generation, quad-core Intel processors and feature faster graphics. Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, said, “IMac continues to be the example that proves how beautiful, fast and fun a desktop computer can be.” The price of new iMacs ranges from $1,299 to $1,999 and screen sizes available are 21.5 -inch and 27-inch.
Wearable gadgets, foundries on the rise
Wearable gadgets are catching the trend fast, with companies like Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930), Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Sony Corporation (NYSE:SNE) (TYO:6758) getting into the segment, according to industry sources. These gadgets will have intense demand, which in turn will give rise to the demand of a variety of high-end semiconductor chips, including those that need the support of mature technology.
According to IC Insights, the growth in foundries is supported by the smartphone market, which has overshadowed the PC. Demand for smartphones chips and ARM chips has increased manifold, fueling the growth in revenues of wafer foundries. Revenue of global semiconductor suppliers will rise less than 6 percent this year, and sales of foundries will increase 14 percent.
