According to the latest report from Counterpoint Research, the global semiconductor market in Q3 2024 was dominated by Samsung, which retained its position as the top player with a market share of 12.4%, despite a slight drop from 13% in Q2.  The decline was attributed to lower-than-expected inventory valuation gains, alongside delays in HBM3e and continued softness in low-end memory pricing and shipments.

Top 7 Semiconductor Companies

Samsung: Maintaining its lead, Samsung's outlook for Q4 2024 remains mixed.  The company faces challenges from weak low-end memory demand but is poised to capitalize on high-performance memory like HBM3e.

SK Hynix: Ranking second, SK Hynix reported an impressive 94% year-on-year revenue growth, driven by strong demand for HBM memory, particularly from data center clients like NVIDIA.

Qualcomm: Secured third place with a 5.3% market share, boosted by robust growth in the automotive sector and optimism in its smartphone business.  The launch of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and a moderate recovery in IoT demand contributed to the company's improved outlook.

Intel: Ranked fourth with a 4.8% market share, Intel's advanced chip manufacturing business remains in its early stages, resulting in continued weakness in Q3.  However, the company is seeing progress in advanced packaging, supporting its foundry revenue and initiatives like UCIe, which advances chip interconnect standards.

Micron Technology: Ranked fifth with a 4.7% market share, Micron has emerged as a key beneficiary of AI growth.

Broadcom: Leveraging widespread AI adoption, Broadcom claimed sixth place with a 4.6% market share.  Its AI revenue surged 220% year-on-year in Q3.

NVIDIA: Ranked seventh with a 4.3% market share, NVIDIA's data center modernization efforts to support AI workloads and unprecedented demand for H200 and Blackwell GPUs led to a 112% year-on-year increase in data center revenue.

Foundry Market Performance

In the Q3 2024 foundry segment, TSMC continued to dominate with a 64% market share, driven by strong utilization of its N5 and N3 nodes and surging demand for AI accelerators.  Samsung Foundry secured the second spot with a 12% market share, benefitting from incremental growth in 4nm and 5nm platforms, despite soft Android smartphone demand.

SMIC ranked third with a 6% market share, supported by recovering domestic demand in China and strong performance in mature nodes like 28nm.  UMC and GlobalFoundries followed with 5% each, capitalizing on IoT and communication infrastructure demand, though broader non-AI recovery remained slow.

Smartphone Application Processor Market

In Q3 2024, MediaTek led the smartphone SoC market with a 35% share, driven by steady LTE chipset shipments and the launch of the Dimensity 9400.

Qualcomm followed with a 25% share, supported by high-end Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 shipments and design wins in flagship smartphones like Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Fold 6.

Apple ranked third with a 17% share, benefiting from the introduction of the A18 and A18 Pro chipsets, which boosted its Q3 shipments.

The Q3 2024 results highlight the growing importance of AI-driven demand and advanced semiconductor technologies in reshaping the competitive landscape, with companies like SK Hynix, Broadcom, and NVIDIA capitalizing on these trends, while traditional leaders like Samsung and Intel face a mix of opportunities and challenges.