Samsung Busts TSMC's 'Monopoly,' Analysts Say

Alan Patterson, EETimes
4/21/2015 05:20 PM EDT

TAIPEI — Samsung has broken the monopoly in leading-edge foundry services recently held by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), according to analysts who cover the chipmakers.

TSMC, the world’s largest chip foundry, is likely to lose pricing power this year in its most profitable technology nodes ranging from 28nm to 16nm as key customers including Qualcomm, MediaTek, Apple, Nvidia and Marvel shift to Samsung and other TSMC competitors as second sources, the analysts said after TSMC posted its first-quarter 2015 financial results on April 16.

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