Intel (brand value down 10% to US$22.9 billion) has barely retained its title as the world’s most valuable semiconductor brand, marginally ahead of TSMC (brand value up 5% to US$21.6 billion), according to a new report from leading brand valuation consultancy, Brand Finance. Intel has built a partially-consumer-facing brand based upon laptop and desktop computers (in addition to server and industrial markets), while TSMC is substantially a business-to-business brand dedicated to manufacturing semiconductors for Apple, AMD, Nvidia and mobile devices.
Every year, leading brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance puts 5,000 of the biggest brands to the test, and publishes over 100 reports, ranking brands across all sectors and countries. The world’s top 20 most valuable and strongest Semiconductor brands are included in the annual Brand Finance Semiconductor 20 2023 ranking.
Alex Haigh, Valuation Director of Brand Finance commented:
“Computing power – and efficiency – is an increasingly contested and important area in global trade, artificial intelligence, mobile computing, and politics. Obvious conflicts over the production, distribution and use of semiconductors are bubbling to the fore, a reflection of how important these brands are to the global economy. To maintain their brand strength and value, chip brands need to maintain their technological edge and production efficiency while also nurturing relations with governments interested in helping certain brands.”
Broadcom (brand value up 29% to US$8.2 billion) is the fastest-growing brand in the rankings this year, largely in connection with increasing demand for Broadcom’s networking and data devices. Broadcom has built a valuable business-to-business brand based upon deploying both wireless and wired connections for end users and network operators. The second-fastest growing brand in the ranking was Analog Devices (brand value up 21% to US$1.9 billion) which is a new entrant in the rankings.
AMD (brand value up 15% this year to US$6.9 billion) has achieved extraordinary brand value growth since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Valued at US$1.4 billion ahead of the pandemic period in early 2020, the brand is now worth almost five times as much, at just under US$7 billion.
STMicroelectronics (brand value up 13% to US$2.3 billion) is a major beneficiary of the global interest in smart devices, by manufacturing microchips for many distinct products, such as electric cars, factory machines, smartphones, and toothbrushes. In recent years, the brand value of STMicroelectronics has grown in connection with its strong brand portfolio, reliable distribution network, and supplier base.
In addition to calculating brand value, Brand Finance also determines the relative strength of brands through a balanced scorecard of metrics evaluating marketing investment, stakeholder equity, and business performance. Compliant with ISO 20671, Brand Finance’s assessment of stakeholder equity incorporates original market research data from over 100,000 respondents in 38 countries and across 31 sectors.
Despite TSMC’s brand strength falling slightly from a score of 80.3 to 78.9, TSMC has become the sector’s strongest brand. TSMC’s strength as a supplier of semiconductors is based in large part upon its fundamentally strong product: it operates much of the world’s leading semiconductor fabrication facilities as a result of its unique organisational knowledge and equipment.