SMHX vs SOXX

SMHXBVanEck Fabless Semiconductor ETF

SOXXAiShares Semiconductor ETF

In short

SMHX Owns the chip designers and skips the factories. SMHX tracks an index of US-listed fabless semiconductor companies: firms that design silicon in-house and hand the actual manufacturing to outside foundries.

SOXX The original chip ETF, running since 2001 and still one of the most heavily traded ways to own the semiconductor complex: roughly 30 US-listed names, from chip designers to the equipment makers who supply them.

Stated mandate

SMHX The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the MarketVector US Listed Fabless Semiconductor Index, which is intended to represent companies involved in the semiconductor industry.

SOXX The Fund is designed to follow an index of U.S.-listed companies operating in the semiconductor sector.

Why people hold it

• SMHX Purist screen: the index takes only US-listed fabless firms drawing at least half their revenue from semiconductors. No foundries, no equipment makers, no integrated manufacturers.vaneck.com
• Fabless is an asset-light model by construction: design and R&D stay in-house while fabrication is outsourced, sidestepping the cost of owning a chip plant.vaneck.com
• Charges 0.35% a year, level with the median semiconductor ETF, for a far narrower cut of the industry than the broad chip trackers.

• SOXX Live since 2001, it is one of the longest-running semiconductor funds and now a multi-billion-dollar one, with heavy daily volume that typically keeps bid-ask spreads narrow.
• 0.33% a year, slightly under the typical fee among semiconductor ETFs.
• A clean pure play: the index tracks US-listed semiconductor companies only, roughly 30 of them, spanning the chip value chain rather than one slice of it.ishares.com
• On cost, liquidity and index execution together, it stands among the stronger builds in a crowded semiconductor field.

Worth knowing

• SMHX By design it skips foundries, equipment makers and integrated manufacturers. Broad chip funds such as SMH and SOXX still cover those links in the supply chain.
• Cheaper doors into chips exist: SOXQ lists 0.19% and CHPS 0.15%, against 0.35% here.
• Launched in 2024 and still a smaller, moderately traded fund, so the track record is short and spreads can run wider than at the category heavyweights.

• SOXX One sector, roughly 30 stocks, non-diversified by design. Moves are bigger than a broad market fund's in both directions.ishares.com
• Cheaper chip funds exist: SOXQ charges 0.19% and CHPS 0.15%, so part of this fee buys the deeper trading pool rather than the exposure itself.
• Not an income vehicle. Chipmakers tend to pay modest dividends, and the fund distributes quarterly.ishares.com

Full SMHX profile⁠

Full SOXX profile⁠