GRIP: 29Jan2026 Top 3 Countries in Semiconductor Manufacturing

The global semiconductor value chain is broad, but on pure manufacturing firepower the top three are Taiwan, South Korea and the United States. Taiwan anchors the world’s most advanced logic nodes, South Korea dominates memory plus advanced foundry, and the US couples resurging fab capacity with leading‑edge design and equipment. Together, these three effectively set the tempo for AI, data‑centre and smartphone silicon.

Taiwan is the irreplaceable node, with TSMC alone holding roughly two‑thirds of the global foundry market and virtually all volume at sub‑5 nm today. South Korea, led by Samsung and SK hynix, is the heavyweight in DRAM and NAND while also operating cutting‑edge foundries. The United States, historically stronger in design, is now adding serious onshore manufacturing through CHIPS‑driven fab builds, including TSMC’s Arizona plants and Intel’s expansion, putting it on track to exceed 20 percent of advanced capacity by 2030.

For a GRIP lens, this concentration of capacity has two key implications. First, geopolitical risk in East Asia is now a direct risk factor for any portfolio exposed to AI, autos or consumer electronics. Second, the US build‑out and nascent moves in Europe, Japan and India are less about displacing Taiwan and South Korea, and more about redundancy and bargaining power in a world where chips are a strategic asset class as much as a technology input.