Technology

Interactive: What Futuristic Transport Will You See in Your Lifetime?

Published

6 years ago

June 13, 2017

Jeff Desjardins

What Futuristic Transport Will You See in Your Lifetime?

We are on the cusp of a revolution in transportation.

While there are still no flying cars yet, perhaps that is for the better.

Instead, it is the integrated application of ultra-fast processors, high-tech sensors, the sharing economy, battery technology, and deep learning that will revolutionize how automobiles operate.

The impact will be profound: by 2035, 90% of cars are expected to be driverless and electric. Further, even the ownership of cars will likely be a thing of the past.

The Future of Transportation

Today’s interactive piece comes to us from RS Components, and it shows how the technology around transportation will change in our lifetimes.

And it’s not just driverless cars that are taking over.

For example, Hyperloop One and skyTran are two interesting transportation projects that could online in the next 10 years, changing how we move between cities. Originally based off Elon Musk’s famous 2013 whitepaper, the first commercial Hyperloop is expected to allow travellers to move between Dubai and Abu Dhabi in just 12 minutes. For smaller distances, the skyTran will be a new system of monorail that could travel up to 150 mph (240 kph) above existing roads, using very little energy.

Further into the future, the world of transportation will be very different.

If you thought in-flight WiFi is cool, then the future of flight in 2050 will be even more surreal. Airbus predicts that panoramic windows, holographic communications and entertainment hubs, and sonic disruptors will allow people to observe, chat, and be entertained via in-flight experiences without disrupting other passengers.

Around the same time, Japanese corporation Obayashi is planning for its space elevator to be built and operational, stemming directly from the Earth’s equator. Using a 60,000 mi (96,000 km) carbon nanotube cable, a 1,300 ft (400 m) diameter floating Earth Port, and a 12,500 ton counter-weight, it would ship people and objects into space at an extremely low cost.

Such a feat of engineering and technology would revolutionize how we approach space travel.

Related Topics:tech elon musk Hyperloop driverless ev autonomous vehicles space elevator

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Technology

Ranked: Largest Semiconductor Foundry Companies by Revenue

Most of the 10 largest semiconductor foundries in the world, are headquartered in just three Asian countries, accounting for 90% of the entire industry’s revenue.

Published

1 week ago

November 20, 2023

Marcus Lu

A cropped chart showing the largest semiconductor foundry companies by their percentage of global revenues in Q1 2023.

Ranked: Largest Semiconductor Foundry Companies by Revenue

They’re in our phones, cars, planes, and even fridges.

Semiconductor chips have become critical for the modern way of life, and the biggest semiconductor foundry companies rake in billions of dollars from widespread demand.

This chart shows the largest semiconductor foundry companies by their percentage of global revenues in Q1 2023, using data sourced from Trendforce.

ℹ️ We highlight data for companies that only operate foundries (fabrication plants) that manufacture chips for clients, also known as a “pure-play” foundries, as well as companies that design and manufacture their own chips, known as integrated device manufacturers. “Fabless” manufacturers that only design and don’t manufacture their own chips are not included.

Semiconductor Foundry Companies by Revenue

At the top of the list and dwarfing every other company by revenue share is TSMC which earned 60% (or nearly $17 billion) of the entire industry’s revenue in Q1 2023.

Founded in 1987, TSMC is a pure-play foundry that has become Taiwan’s largest company and manufactures products for a host of clients including Apple, NVIDIA, and AMD.

Rank	Company	Country	Revenue (Q1 2023, USD)
1	TSMC	🇹🇼 Taiwan	$16,735M
2	Samsung	🇰🇷 South Korea	$3,446M
3	GlobalFoundries	🇺🇸 US	$1,841M
4	UMC	🇹🇼 Taiwan	$1,784M
5	SMIC	🇨🇳 China	$1,462M
6	HuaHong Group	🇨🇳 China	$845M
7	Tower Semiconductor	🇮🇱 Israel	$356M
8	PSMC	🇹🇼 Taiwan	$332M
9	VIS	🇹🇼 Taiwan	$269M
10	DB Hitek	🇰🇷 South Korea	$234M
	Other		$556M
	Global Total		$27,860M

Note: Revenue based on the following conversion rates: USD 1 = WON 1,276; USD 1 = NTD 30.4.

Well behind TSMC in foundry revenues is integrated device manufacturer Samsung, the biggest company in South Korea, which made $3.4 billion (12.4% of the industry’s revenue) from its semiconductor manufacturing business.

GlobalFoundries from the U.S., UMC from Taiwan and SMIC from China round out the top five, with each taking home around 6% of industry’s revenue share in Q1 2023. The former spun out from AMD’s manufacturing arm when the company went fabless in 2009.

Industry concentration is apparent in semiconductors. For example, the top 10 semiconductor foundry companies account for 98% of the entire industry’s revenue. Furthermore, 90% of the market is dominated by companies in just three Asian countries: Taiwan, South Korea, and China.