The escalating global demand for high-performance chips in the AI sector is sparking significant shifts in the competitive landscape and pricing strategies within the semiconductor foundry industry. Based on reports from South Korean media, Samsung Electronics has hiked prices for certain advanced process node wafer foundry services by around 15%. This move mirrors TSMC's sweeping price adjustments, jointly indicating a shift in the semiconductor manufacturing industry from being 'demand-driven' to 'supply-driven'. Presently, the demands for AI computing power are reshaping the industry's capacity and pricing frameworks. High-end computing chips are experiencing full order books, propelling wafer foundry costs upward and causing ripple effects throughout the upstream and downstream supply chains, thereby triggering price hikes across all chip categories and end products. Mainstream wafer foundries like TSMC and Samsung are recalibrating their capacity allocations, giving priority to the fulfillment of high-end computing power orders while curtailing production capacity for traditional consumer electronics chips. This has led to a disruptive reversal in the dynamics of supply and demand. Furthermore, research institutions forecast that China's semiconductor market is poised for a notable upward revision in its year-on-year growth rate, reaching 92.9% by 2026. This growth is particularly pronounced in the memory market, accompanied by a substantial increase in market share.
