Seoul: The global pure-play semiconductor foundry market experienced a significant 29 percent growth in the second quarter compared to the previous year, fueled by a substantial surge in demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips, as revealed by an industry report on Friday.

According to Yonhap News Agency, AI-related orders and capacity reallocation were pivotal in creating supply-demand imbalances across both advanced and mature nodes. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) held onto its position as the market leader with a commanding 73 percent share during the period, marking its dominance for two consecutive quarters.

Counterpoint Research credited TSMC's robust performance to various factors, including the mass production of chips using its 2-nanometer process, the scaling up of 3-nanometer production, and supply shortages in both the mature 8-inch and 12-inch processes, as well as advanced packaging techniques.

Samsung Electronics Co., holding the second spot, witnessed its market share remain relatively stable from the previous quarter. The primary focus for Samsung Foundry continues to be improving the SF2's yield rate, although demand for SF4 and SF5 is also contributing significantly to revenue growth, alongside an increase in foundry wafer prices during the first half of the year.