AMD Joins Top Three Fabless Firms, Overtakes Qualcomm

AMD rose to third place among the world's fabless companies in the second quarter of 2026, replacing Qualcomm on the list. According to an exclusive TrendForce report, AMD's sales growth pushed it ahead in a market reshaped by the expanding role of artificial intelligence across multiple chip categories.

TrendForce defines fabless companies as firms that design semiconductor chips but do not operate their own fabrication plants, outsourcing production to third parties. In Q2 2026 the combined revenue of the top 10 global fabless companies climbed 73 percent year on year to more than $141.45 billion, the report says. Nvidia remained first, AMD rose to third, and Qualcomm fell to fourth amid weakness in its mobile business.

How AI demand changed the leaderboard

TrendForce reports that demand has widened beyond standalone GPUs to include CPUs, ASICs and interconnect products. That shift has elevated the importance of central processors because scaling compute, optical connectivity and communication among accelerators and infrastructure increasingly depend on CPUs. The research house notes that interconnect chips have become essential infrastructure and that custom chips are now a primary growth path for fabless firms.

Nvidia kept the top position. Its Q2 2026 revenue rose about 99 percent year on year to nearly $91.16 billion, giving Nvidia roughly 64 percent of the cumulative revenue for the top 10 firms, TrendForce says. The report adds that Nvidia has expanded its NVLink Fusion ecosystem to move closer to the ASIC market. Nvidia has also invested in MediaTek, reportedly to improve compatibility between customers building custom XPU solutions and Nvidia's existing infrastructure while laying groundwork for future automotive AI applications. TrendForce says Nvidia's earlier investment in Marvell followed a similar cooperation model.

Broadcom placed second. TrendForce reports that the first ASIC Broadcom designed for OpenAI and Google entered supply during the quarter, and that Broadcom's networking business grew strongly alongside the spread of XPU platforms. Broadcom's revenue rose 112 percent to more than $18.89 billion. TrendForce says six major customers of Broadcom's custom-chip business, including Anthropic and OpenAI, will remain key demand drivers for XPU-related products.

AMD recorded the most notable move on the chart by rising to third. TrendForce attributes AMD's advance to the renewed strategic importance of CPUs in the AI era. AMD's Q2 2026 revenue exceeded $11.53 billion, and revenue from its datacenter CPUs hit a fresh record for the fifth consecutive quarter. The report also states that AMD gained additional share from Intel in the x86 server market.

Qualcomm fell to fourth place and continues to contend with persistent challenges in smartphone silicon. TrendForce highlights a reduced share for Qualcomm modems in the latest iPhone models as added pressure on the mobile segment. Qualcomm's automotive business, by contrast, posted double-digit year-on-year growth for the 23rd consecutive quarter and helped offset some of the mobile decline. Qualcomm's revenue in Q2 2026 topped $8.5 billion.

For TrendForce, the new ranking sends a clear signal: in the fabless economy market weight is no longer measured solely by graphics processors. CPUs have returned to a central role, interconnect chips are critical infrastructure, and custom-designed chips are now one of the main routes to growth.