China’s foundry growth to remain slow for next 5 years

China’s market share in the global foundry market is expected to remain flat for the next five years, according to analyst firm IC Insights.
The country accounted for 8.5% of the global foundry market in 2021 but this will only grow to 8.8% by 2026, according to the firm.
China peaked at taking 11.4% of the global foundry market in 2006 but growth has stalled since then, according to IC Insights.
Since 2009, the country held only a single-digit market share up to 2021.
The Semiconductor Industry Association had said recently that last year China spend US$26 billion on 28 new fab projects.
The association said the country produced 261.3 billion chips in 2020 but this increased to 359.4 billion chips, a 33.3% increase.
However, compared to this overall growth in semiconductors, those for foundry remains relatively slow.
The Chinese government had previously invested in companies HSMC and QXIC to develop foundry under 14-nanometer (nm) node, but both companies had failed to achieve their desired goals.
China’s largest foundry SMIC is growing at a rapid pace, but the company is focused on 14nm and 28nm legacy nodes, while it is also on US’ sanction list.
Meanwhile, the global foundry market is expected to be worth US$132.1 billion, growing 20% compared to 2021.