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Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →SMIC ranked third among the world’s largest contract chipmakers by foundry revenue in the second quarter of 2026, with more than US$3 billion in revenue and 5.4% share, according to TrendForce. It did not newly rise to third in that quarter: TrendForce also placed it third in Q1. The change was a stronger quarter and a narrower share gap with second-place Samsung Foundry.
What “third-largest contract fab” means
The ranking compares foundries by revenue from semiconductor manufacturing services; it is not a count of chips, wafers, or all semiconductor production worldwide. TrendForce’s figures describe its top-ten global foundry analysis for Q2 2026, published September 9, 2026. The 5.4% figure is SMIC’s share in that revenue ranking, not the portion of SMIC’s own revenue from wafer services.
A revenue ranking can reflect pricing and the mix of products manufactured as well as business volume. It therefore does not establish that SMIC made the third-highest number of chips or shipped the third-highest wafer volume.
How the top foundries ranked in Q2 2026
TrendForce reported nearly US$53.49 billion in combined revenue for the top ten foundries, up 11.5% quarter over quarter. The leading five were:
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#1 Best Overall
| Q2 2026 rank | Foundry | Revenue | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | TSMC | Nearly US$40.2 billion | 72.5% |
| 2 | Samsung Foundry | US$3.26 billion | 5.9% |
| 3 | SMIC | More than US$3 billion | 5.4% |
| 4 | UMC | Nearly US$2.18 billion | 3.9% |
| 5 | GlobalFoundries | Approximately US$1.79 billion | 3.2% |
These are TrendForce’s reported Q2 2026 figures; the ranking and shares use its foundry-market definition, rather than a measure of every semiconductor made globally. TrendForce’s Q2 2026 foundry ranking
SMIC’s position improved, but it did not move up a place
TrendForce ranked SMIC third in both Q1 and Q2 2026. In Q1, the firm reported US$2.51 billion in revenue, up 0.6% from the prior quarter, and a 5.1% share. In Q2, it reported revenue above US$3 billion, up 20% from Q1, and a 5.4% share. Samsung remained second: its reported share was 6.5% in Q1 and 5.9% in Q2. The share gap between Samsung and SMIC thus narrowed from 1.4 percentage points to 0.5 percentage points.
TrendForce’s written statement was that “SMIC ranked third, with revenue surging 20% QoQ to more than $3 billion.” Here, QoQ means Q2 2026 compared with Q1 2026. TrendForce’s Q1 2026 ranking
Why TrendForce says SMIC revenue grew
TrendForce attributed SMIC’s Q2 growth to several demand and supply-chain factors. These are the firm’s explanation of the quarter, not independently established evidence about specific customers or contracts:
- Advance procurement across consumer supply chains, especially for PCs and notebooks.
- Increasing orders for AI-related peripheral chips and server-networking products.
- Memory shortages supporting demand and pricing for foundry work involving NAND and NOR Flash.
For the wider foundry market, TrendForce also pointed to constrained advanced-process capacity used for AI and high-performance computing processors, stronger demand for peripheral AI components such as power-management ICs and power discretes, and advance consumer procurement that tightened some mature-process capacity. Those were the firm’s interpretations of the market’s record quarter, not a breakdown of SMIC’s revenue by product or customer.
Revenue rank is not the same as wafer output
A separate monitor, VLSI Market, transcribed SMIC’s Q2 issuer results as US$3,005.588 million in revenue, 2,869,495 standard-logic 8-inch-equivalent wafers shipped, and 93.7% utilization. These are monitor-transcribed issuer figures, not TrendForce’s market-share measures, and the underlying official issuer release was not verified. Wafer shipments and utilization describe company operations; they should not be read as the basis for the cross-company revenue ranking. VLSI Market
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the figures do—and do not—say about Q3
TrendForce forecast that seasonal smartphone launches and next-generation AI and high-performance-computing production could support foundry revenue in Q3 2026. That is a forecast, not an observed Q3 result, and it does not establish whether SMIC’s ranking or share will change in the next quarterly comparison.
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