Global Semiconductor Industry - Market Cap Over $12 Trillion

The semiconductor industry powers almost everything in today's world, from smartphones to cars, and in 2025, the sector's market cap was set to surpass a whopping $12 trillion, reflecting its pivotal role in enabling artificial intelligence tools, according to visualcapitalist.com.

The cited source presents a country-by-country ranking of semiconductor companies by market cap. The data, as of November 24, 2025, is provided by CompaniesMarketCap.com. The industry's value is heavily concentrated in a few countries, notably the US, Taiwan, South Korea, and the Netherlands.

• Nvidia, with a market cap of $4.4 trillion, accounts for about 37% of the global semiconductor sector

U.S. companies account for the lion's share of the total semiconductor industry valuation, collectively exceeding $7 trillion. Giant Nvidia alone has a market cap of more than $4.4 trillion, accounting for about 37% of the entire global sector. The company's chips are widely used to develop and run modern AI workloads, powering everything from large language models to autonomous vehicles. Other major U.S. players in the field include Broadcom ($1.8 trillion) and AMD ($350 billion), both of which have signed massive deals with OpenAI in 2025. All three are fabless semiconductor companies, meaning they design their chips in-house but rely on external manufacturers, such as Taiwan's TSMC, to actually bring them to market.

• Nvidia - on track to hit $5 trillion market cap

Nvidia is expected to soon hit a $5 trillion market cap, becoming the first company in the world to reach that milestone, according to Reuters.

The company's shares have been boosted recently by CEO Jensen Huang's announcement of $500 billion in AI chip orders and plans to build seven supercomputers for the U.S. government.

The $5 trillion mark would mark Nvidia's dramatic rise from a niche graphics chip maker to the backbone of the global AI industry, surpassing rivals Apple, Microsoft and Alphabet. The milestone would come just months after the company hit a $4 trillion valuation in July.

Analysts say Nvidia's share price advance reflects investor confidence that AI spending will continue to grow across industries, even as some warn of overvalued valuations.

• Solid companies in Taiwan

Taiwan remains a cornerstone of global semiconductor manufacturing, with TSMC holding the title of the world's largest contract chipmaker. The company is currently expanding in the U.S., building new factories in Arizona, supported by billions of dollars in incentives under Biden administration rules.

MediaTek, Taiwan's second-largest semiconductor company, is a major designer of mobile and connectivity chipsets, supplying processors for smartphones, smart TVs and automotive systems used by many consumer electronics brands.

• Strategic niche in Europe

Europe, while smaller in total market value, plays a crucial role in semiconductor equipment and design. Netherlands-based ASML, valued at $383 billion, is the world's only supplier of EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet) lithography technology. ASML does not sell its advanced lithography machines to China because of export restrictions imposed by the US and supported by the Dutch government.