DIGITIMES Research projects that the global foundry revenue will grow at a CAGR of 11.3% from 2023 through 2028, driven by demand from 5G and EV applications. Added capacities of both mature and advanced processes coming online starting in 2024 will also fuel the foundry industry's mid-to-long-term growth, according to the figures from the latest report covering the global foundry industry over the next five years.
Macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties continue to affect the foundry industry's development while the rapid rise of high-performance computing (HPC) applications also propels foundries' research of advanced fabrication and packaging technologies.
Amid the semiconductor market downturn, the 2023 global foundry revenue is set to decline to US$121.5 billion, down 13.8%. Going into 2024, the global foundry revenue may show a rebound but poor macroeconomic conditions on top of geopolitical risks will continue to curtail the foundry industry's growth, the figures show.
Despite the short-term headwinds, the foundry industry still enjoys strong HPC chip demand as well as increasing semiconductor usage in 5G and EV applications. Furthermore, thanks to the ongoing trends of in-house chip development, IDMs continuing to outsource their chip production and new foundry capacities becoming available, the outlook for the foundry industry's mid-to-long-term growth remains promising.
Geopolitical influences on foundries' strategies to diversify their production operations are something to watch. Japan is rising to become a new foundry production hub for its well-established industry ecosystem and subsidy policies. Eyeing the AI-driven demand for HPC chips, foundries are also working aggressively on advanced fabrication and packaging technologies needed to make high-end chips.
