TSMC expects semiconductor upswing

The semiconductor industry is poised for an upswing during the second half of the year, amid reports that the company's third-quarter chip shipments may grow about 29 percent from the second quarter, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman Morris Chang (張忠謀) said yesterday.

Chang made the remarks after a meeting with Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) yesterday morning, along with other industry heavyweights of the Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce (CNAIC, 工商協進會).

A Chinese-language newspaper yesterday reported that TSMC may see its shipments increase about 29 percent in the third quarter from the previous quarter, and add another 9-percent increase in the fourth-quarter.

The report, citing the company's estimates, said TSMC's third-quarter shipments will grow across the board to more than 1.5 million units, on improving customer demand for communications, computer and consumer-electronics chips.

The company's spokesman Tzeng Jinnhaw (曾晉皓) declined to comment on the report.

But a CSFB report estimated that TSMC may see 20 percent growth in third-quarter shipments from the previous quarter, with its factory-utilization rate reaching as much as 94 percent, compared with TSMC's earlier prediction of about 80 percent.

Chang, 73, also said yesterday that he would not attend an investor conference on July 26. Chang said in May that he would resign at the appropriate time.