[mdasen]

I mostly agree that there isn't a great alternative to TSMC, but I would point out that the 2021 Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processors are being made by Samsung with their 5nm process (in addition to their new Exynos 2100). Intel and GlobalFoundries aren't really replacements, but Samsung has been winning business for latest-generation flagship processors. Maybe it isn't as advanced as TSMC and maybe Samsung will have problems, but a lot of the 2021 flagship phones will be shipping with Samsung-manufactured 5nm processors.

Samsung seems to be keeping it close.

[tgtweak]

It's still within that circle. Samsung is a great fab, probably the only real contender to TSMC. Samsung is 17% global semiconductor demand vs TSMC at 50%+. Included in that 17% is all of Samsung's demand (Exynos, SSD/storage, memory, etc).

Further agitating the issue, South-Korean SK-Hynix is buying Intel's nand business this year and will likely shift production out of intel's US fabs when it comes time.