Fortune: TSMC and Tencent break into top 100 of the Fortune Global 500 list, as Asia rides the AI boom

Posted on July 29, 2026 by michelleclarke2015

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TSMC and Tencent break into the top 100 of the Fortune Global 500 list, as Asia rides the AI boom

Angelica Ang

By 

Angelica Ang

Writer

July 28, 2026, 5:00 PM ET

For the past year, heightened global demand for AI has fueled stratospheric price jumps for semiconductors and other hardware and Asia—which forms the hardware backbone of the AI supply chain—is cashing in.

For the past year, heightened global demand for AI has fueled stratospheric price jumps for semiconductors and other hardware and Asia—which forms the hardware backbone of the AI supply chain—is cashing in.CHENG XIN VIA GETTY IMAGES

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The Fortune Global 500 has long been a scoreboard of corporate scale, reflecting the rise and fall of different industries and sectors. And in 2026, the ranking of the world’s largest companies by revenue reflects just how much the AI boom is supercharging revenues across the tech and semiconductor supply chains.

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For the first time, Tencent and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) have broken into the top 100, underscoring how surging demand for advanced chips and digital platforms is reshuffling corporate size and power across Asia and the wider world. 

For the past year, heightened global demand for AI has fueled stratospheric price jumps for semiconductors and other hardware and Asia—which forms the hardware backbone of the AI supply chain—is cashing in.

TSMC, which serves clients like Apple and Nvidia, surged 44 spots, rising to No. 82. The chipmaker reported total revenue of $122.3 billion in 2025, up 35.6% from 2024. According to CNBC, Nvidia has reserved “the majority” of capacity at TSMC; last October, the two firms also partnered to onshore advanced chip packaging capabilities to Phoenix, Arizona.

Tencent also jumped 19 spots, just making the top 100 at No. 97. The software company, which is behind social media platforms like WeChat and QQ, and global gaming titles like Honor of Kings and PUBG Mobile, raked in $104.6 billion in revenue in 2025, up 14% from the year before. While Tencent’s gaming business grew in 2025, the company also reported strong growth in its advertising business, thanks to new AI-driven ad targeting. (Rumors of Tencent’s falling gaming revenue, however, sparked a Chinese gaming sell-off last week; Tencent’s own shares sank 7.1%, the most since April 2025.)

Tencent, much like its Chinese Big Tech peers, is investing in artificial intelligence. In March, the firm announced plans to double AI-related spending to 36 billion yuan, or $5.2 billion, to invest in model training and the hiring of talent.

Other Asian hardware firms also made huge leaps on the Global 500 list. Wistron, a Taiwan-based electronics manufacturer, rose 298 spots to No. 198, the largest jump by any company on this year’s list. Wistron posted 2025 revenue of NT$2.19 trillion, or $70.18 billion, a 115% jump from the year before. Both Wistron and Quanta Computer, along with Foxconn, are reporting surging revenue thanks to their new business assembling servers using AI processors from companies like Nvidia.

“In the past, one server generation typically lasted about two and a half to three years. You’d spend roughly a year designing a product, then it would stay in the market for about two years,” Simon Lin, Wistron’s chair, told Fortune. “With AI, not only are there new products every year, but each generation is a meaningful technological leap.”

Elsewhere in the AI supply chain, South Korean semiconductor firm SK Hynix rose 101 spots to No. 210, with revenue of $68.3 billion. SK Hynix has become the leading supplier of high-bandwidth memory chips, a key component of the AI processors produced by Nvidia and others. The company recently conducted a $28.5 billion listing in the U.S., the largest-ever share sale by a foreign company in U.S. markets.

Asia’s new debuts

Several Asia-based companies are making their debut on this year’s Global 500 list.

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Chery Automobile debuts at No. 383, with $41.8 billion in revenue. Chery has been China’s top car exporter for 23 years, with overseas shipments making up 70% of its entire sales. It mostly exports internal combustion engine vehicles to markets like the Middle East, Africa, and Russia, though it is starting to export electric vehicles as well. Chinese car exports are a rare bright spot in the country’s slumping car market; the country is on track to export 10 million cars this year, up from 7.1 million last year.

WT Microelectronics debuts at No. 431, with $37.8 billion in revenue. The firm was established as a local semiconductor distributor in Taiwan in 1993, but has over the years grown into a major supply chain partner. 

Finally, Daikin Industries enters the list at No. 498, with $33.3 billion in revenue. As the world’s largest HVAC maker, Daikin has seen demand for its cooling products surge, as Europe experienced one of its most intense heatwaves on record last month. According to the Financial Times, Daikin’s European air conditioning and refrigeration sales grew by almost 10% in the last financial year, faster than in any other region.

There’s one more Global 500 debut relevant to Asia: Coupang, often referred to as “South Korea’s Amazon,” debuts on the Global 500 at No. 479 with $34.5 billion in revenue. The company is incorporated in Delaware and designates Seattle as its headquarters. Yet Coupang generates over 90% of its revenue from South Korea, where it operates one of the country’s largest e-commerce and logistics networks. 

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About michelleclarke2015

Life event that changes all: Horse riding accident in Zimbabwe in 1993, a fractured skull et al including bipolar anxiety, chronic fatigue …. co-morbidities (Nietzche 'He who has the reason why can deal with any how' details my health history from 1993 to date). 17th 2017 August operation for breast cancer (no indications just an appointment came from BreastCheck through the Post). Trinity College Dublin Business Economics and Social Studies (but no degree) 1997-2003; UCD 1997/1998 night classes) essays, projects, writings. Trinity Horizon Programme 1997/98 (Centre for Women Studies Trinity College Dublin/St. Patrick's Foundation (Professor McKeon) EU Horizon funded: research study of 15 women (I was one of this group and it became the cornerstone of my journey to now 2017) over 9 mth period diagnosed with depression and their reintegration into society, with special emphasis on work, arts, further education; Notes from time at Trinity Horizon Project 1997/98; Articles written for Irishhealth.com 2003/2004; St Patricks Foundation monthly lecture notes for a specific period in time; Selection of Poetry including poems written by people I know; Quotations 1998-2017; other writings mainly with theme of social justice under the heading Citizen Journalism Ireland. Letters written to friends about life in Zimbabwe; Family history including Michael Comyn KC, my grandfather, my grandmother's family, the O'Donnellan ffrench Blake-Forsters; Moral wrong: An acrimonious divorce but the real injustice was the Catholic Church granting an annulment – you can read it and make your own judgment, I have mine. Topics I have written about include annual Brain Awareness week, Mashonaland Irish Associataion in Zimbabwe, Suicide (a life sentence to those left behind); Nostalgia: Tara Hill, Co. Meath.
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