Foundry-for-hire TSMC still reigns supreme as the world’s biggest contract chipmaker.

The company’s 2012 sales hit $17.1 billion, up 18 percent from 2011. The closest rivals did still can't hold a candle to TSMC.

Globalfoundries ranked second with $4.56 billion, up 31 percent from a year earlier. Samsung came in third, surpassing UMC with $4.33 billion, but its sales rose 98 percent in a single year.

Analysts believe Samsung also has a good shot at overtaking Glofo, due to high capital spending and plenty of spare capacity.

On the whole, the foundry industry did rather well in 2012. IC Insights estimates total foundry revenues in 2012 at $39.3 billion, up 20 percent from 2012.

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