Going into first-quarter 2022, the four leading Taiwan-based foundries are expected to perform brilliantly despite the traditional slow season.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, DIGITIMES Research projects their on-year growth in whole-year 2022 revenue will further increase moderately from the 2021 level in view of the foundries' optimistic outlook.
With the production of 5nm chips ramping up in fourth-quarter 2021, the four leading Taiwan-based foundries' average capacity utilization exceeded 100%. Moreover, the foundries raising their prices also brought about a 27% on-year growth in their combined fourth-quarter 2021 revenue while boosting their whole-year 2021 revenue to a new high. Despite a high 2020 base period, their whole-year 2021 revenue was able to maintain a 25% growth.
Table 1: Key factors affecting Taiwan's wafer foundry industry in 4Q21 and 1Q22 (demand and supply)
Table 2: Key factors affecting Taiwan's wafer foundry industry in 2021 and 2022 (demand and supply)
Chart 1: Taiwan key wafer foundry revenues, 1Q21-1Q22 (US$b)
Chart 5: Taiwan key wafer foundry annual revenues, 2018-2022 (US$b)
Table 4: Taiwan key wafer foundry annual capex, 2018-2022 (US$b)