Chip Shortage Makes Infineon's Earnings Climb

While the global chip shortage is hampering production processes in industries across the globe, the actual manufacturers profit the most from the semiconductor scarcity. Among them is Europe's largest chipmaker Infineon, which accumulated $3.4 billion in revenue this past quarter alone among substantial year-over-year gains. As our chart shows, the company is especially thriving in Asian countries.

56 percent of Infineon's Q3 sales stemmed from the Asia-Pacific region, China, Japan and Hong Kong. Since most consumer electronics in high demand like current-gen video game consoles or smartphones are manufactured in these countries, the numbers come as no surprise, although the Siemens-owned corporation has focused its efforts on automotive applications. Roughly $1.5 billion or 42 percent of total revenue was generated by sales in this sector, followed by power & sensor systems with approximately $1 billion.

Even though Infineon leads Europe when it comes to chip manufacturing, it's still only a small player in the $466 billion worldwide semiconductor market. Intel and Samsung alone made up for $130 billion in revenue in 2020, with Infineon's 2020 revenue coming in just shy of $10 billion. This correlates with Europe's standing when it comes to semiconductor sales. With $37.3 billion, it came in only fourth in terms of revenue volume last year. The continuing chip supremacy of Asia and the U.S. prompted EU officials to put into motion the so-called "European Chips Act" as part of the union's digital strategy. EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen called the introduction of the plan "not just a matter of our competitiveness [but] also a matter of tech sovereignty."