
ASML, TSMC, and NVIDIA are leading the charge in semiconductor advancements. ASML's lithography machines are used by TSMC to produce cutting-edge chips, while NVIDIA's GPUs rely on these advanced chips to power their graphics capabilities.
TSMC's 5nm process technology is a significant breakthrough, allowing for the production of smaller, faster, and more power-efficient chips. This technology is used in NVIDIA's Ampere architecture, which provides a massive performance boost in gaming and AI applications.
ASML's EUV lithography machines enable the production of these smaller chips, which is a critical component in the development of more advanced GPUs. This partnership between ASML, TSMC, and NVIDIA has led to significant advancements in the semiconductor industry.
On a similar theme: Supermicro Announces Full Production of Nvidia Blackwell Solutions.
Market Analysis
TSMC holds a 57% global market share as of 2023, solidifying its position as the leader in the semiconductor foundry market. This is a significant advantage over its closest rival, Samsung Foundry, which has around 11% market share.
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TSMC's technological leadership is also evident in its 5nm and 3nm nodes, which have set industry standards. Its goal to start 2nm production by 2025 further cements its position as a technological leader.
The company's outperformance is expected to continue, with a forecasted 20%-plus rate of growth in 2024, compared to the overall semiconductor market's 10% growth rate. This is largely due to its strong relationships with key customers like Nvidia, which is dominating its industry and expected to see 100% revenue growth this year.
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TSMC's Outperformance vs the Semi Industry
TSMC is expecting a 20%-plus growth rate in 2024, while lowering their forecast for the overall semiconductor market to 10% year-over-year.
The company is more cautious on the industry overall, but is expecting an even larger outperformance due to the growing demand for AI.
TSMC has secured all the orders from Nvidia and other AI accelerators, while other markets like automotive are seeing a strong cyclical downturn.
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This means TSMC is poised for significant growth in 2024, with the company projecting 30% growth in Q2 compared to last year's revenues.
Nvidia, one of TSMC's key customers, is currently dominating its industry and is expected to see 100% revenue growth this year.
TSMC's guidance for the year suggests a healthy growth rate, despite the challenges facing the industry.
TSMC's outperformance is largely driven by the growing demand for AI, which is expected to continue driving growth in the industry.
ASML Raises Long-Term Guidance
ASML is expected to raise its long-term guidance due to the increasing demand for leading edge nodes driven by AI. This is because AI accelerators are expected to bring in a large chunk of demand, with very large die sizes that drive up the demand for wafers and thus tools.
TSMC sees AI already contributing more than 20% of revenues by 2028, and HBM is expected to start contributing 20% to DRAM revenues by 2024. This is a significant shift in the market, and ASML's high demand scenario for 2030 revenues is now starting to look conservative.
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ASML's high demand scenario works back to EUR 66 of EPS, which, on a 35x multiple, would result in an IRR or total annual return of 21%. This is a compelling return, especially considering the company's roadmap in scaling.
A forward PE of 35x would be around the average of the last three years' trading range, which seems justified given the roadmap in scaling, on which ASML is a key play.
Industry Outlook
The semiconductor industry is expected to experience a mild and gradual recovery in 2024, with a 10% year-over-year growth rate, excluding memory. This is according to CC Wei, TSMC's guidance.
TSMC is projecting 30% growth in Q2 compared to last year's revenues, which turned out to be the bottom of the semi cycle.
The company's foundry industry growth is now forecast to be mid- to high-teens percent, coming off the steep inventory correction of 2023.
TSMC is expecting an even larger outperformance compared to the rest of the industry, mainly due to AI demand from Nvidia and other AI accelerators.
Nvidia is dominating its industry and is likely to see 100% revenue growth for this year.
TSMC's business is expected to grow quarter-over-quarter throughout 2024, with a full-year revenue increase of low to mid-20% in U.S. dollar terms.
The impact of AI deployments is growing every week, with generative AI deflection rates doubling for both employees and customers at one of the leading companies.
Consider reading: Nvidia Revenue History
Market Position and Technological Leadership
TSMC is the undisputed leader in the semiconductor foundry market, holding a 57% of the global market share as of 2023.
Its 5nm and 3nm nodes have set industry standards, making it the preferred foundry for high-performance computing and mobile devices.
TSMC is pushing for 2nm production by 2025, further cementing its technological leadership.
Samsung Foundry is TSMC's closest rival, with around 11% market share, and has made significant strides in advanced node technology.
Samsung has started mass production of its 3nm Gate-All-Around (GAA) process in 2022, promising improvements in power efficiency and performance.
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Intel Foundry Services (IFS) is a newer player in the foundry market, leveraging its extensive semiconductor manufacturing experience to carve out a niche.
Intel plans to start 2nm production by 2025, directly challenging TSMC's timeline, with its IDM 2.0 strategy including significant investments in new fabs and advanced nodes like Intel 20A and Intel 18A.
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Supply Chain & Logistics
NVIDIA has unveiled a software library called cuLitho, designed to accelerate computational lithography workloads and speed up chip manufacturing processes.
cuLitho will enable better design rules, higher density, higher yields, and AI-powered lithography, which is a significant breakthrough in chip manufacturing.
ASML, Synopsys, and TSMC will integrate NVIDIA's GPUs and libraries into their software platforms and fabs, which will help accelerate the design and manufacturing of next-generation chips.
Here are some key partners that have already adopted NVIDIA cuLitho:
- TSMC, the world's top chip foundry
- Synopsys, a leading EDA chip design tools company
- ASML, a chip manufacturing equipment maker
This collaboration will help increase throughput, reduce carbon footprint, and set the foundation for 2nm and beyond chip designs.
AI and Digital Transformation
Artificial intelligence is a key driver of digital transformation, enabling companies to automate complex tasks and make data-driven decisions.
The cost of computational time has been increasing rapidly in semi-manufacturing due to the growing number of transistors in newer nodes and more stringent accuracy requirements.
This is especially true for photomasks, which have become more complex to counteract the effects of optical distortion as transistors have gotten smaller.
Photomasks are no longer just a negative of the shape engineers are trying to etch into the silicon, but rather a sophisticated tool that requires advanced technology to create accurately.
The increasing complexity of photomasks is a result of the limitations of optical technology, which can't keep up with the shrinking size of transistors.
The industry is turning to artificial intelligence and digital transformation to overcome these challenges and improve the efficiency of semi-manufacturing processes.
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