Wafer shipments spur chipmakers' sales

The world's two leading foundry service providers yesterday reported sharp rises in their sales and wider gross margins last month thanks to increased wafer shipments.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world's largest made-to-order chipmaker, said its sales last month hit a new high of NT$23.15 billion (US$678.9 million), the fourth month in a row of record-high sales.

By value, sales were up 31.2 percent year-on-year and were up 2.8 percent from the NT$22.52 billion recorded in June.

Sales in the seven months through last month rose 36.1 percent year-on-year to NT$145.53 billion, the company said.

At an investor conference on July 29, TSMC Chief financial officer Lora Ho (何麗梅) said the company expected its wafer shipments in the third quarter to increase by 4 percent to 6 percent over the second quarter.

She also forecast a gross margin of approximately 45 percent in the third quarter, against 43.4 percent in the second.

TSMC rival United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) said that its sales last month rose 59.78 percent year-on-year to NT$11.2 billion. In June it recorded sales of NT$10.32 billion.

The world's second-largest made-to-order chipmaker said sales in the seven months through last month rose to NT$65.7 billion from NT$46.62 billion.