The second quarter is coming to an end, quarterly figures are pending. Something big is brewing again in the semiconductor industry: TSMC could surpass Intel in sales for the first time. Because the outlook on the stock exchange promises TSMC significant growth, while Intel does not even manage to stand still.
It is an unmistakable sign in the industry: The long-time top dog Intel will soon have to sort itself out behind TSMC. If this has been the case for a number of years in terms of technology, it is now also visible in terms of sales. Because while Intel isn't just struggling with a falling share price, sales aren't going up any further either. On the contrary: For the second quarter, which will soon end, the stockbrokers on New York's Wall Street even expect an average decline of around three percent compared to the previous year. Instead of 18.59 billion US dollars, it should be 17.98 billion US dollars.
TSMC on the other hand paints a completely different picture. The stock exchange expects sales growth of over 36 percent here. In the previous year, sales were just under 13.3 billion US dollars, this year it should be 18.1 billion US dollars in the second three-month period of 2022. According to this extrapolation, Intel would be relegated to the places. In the end, however, analyst forecasts for certain manufacturers are often outbid, so that it will only be clear in about a month whether the changing of the guard will last. However, the forecasts for the third quarter are similar: Here, too, TSMC should land ahead of Intel.
TSMC plays into the hands of the global demand, which they serve as “everyone's foundry”. be able. The major customers include not only Intel's biggest competitors, but also Intel itself. Intel has had certain products manufactured by TSMC for decades and will expand this even further. The most recent projects include specific chips for the HPC accelerator Ponte Vecchio, the graphics chips from the Intel Arc family and tiles for upcoming Meteor Lake processors.
Whether Intel even a rudimentary success like TSMC can achieve is still completely in the stars. Most recently, the foundry business made $283 million in revenue for the quarter, and Intel's expensive takeover of Tower Semi will take Intel a step forward here. But it will be years before real, new and modern capacities are available as a foundry.