United Microelectronics Corp (UMC,
Revenue for last month was NT$8.46 billion (US$261.75 million), up 20.65 percent from NT$7.01 billion in March last year, the company said in a statement.
Last month's sales were up 12.5 percent from the previous month, UMC said.
In the first three months of this year, UMC reported a revenue of NT$24.38 billion, 20 percent more than the NT$20.29 billion it recorded in the same period last year, the company said.
UMC supplies semiconductor chips to several of the biggest companies in the global high-tech sector.
Analysts said that the company's first-quarter performance was slightly better than had been expected.
``Our estimate for first-quarter revenue was about NT$23.3 billion to NT$23.9 billion, so the actual numbers were better due to strong demand for chips in communication devices,'' said Brian Lin, an analyst at Ta Ching Securities Co (
In late February, UMC told investors its performance might be weaker in the first quarter, a typically slow season for the global technology industry, as sales would fall 13-15 percent from the fourth quarter's NT$27.47 billion.
UMC's larger rival, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (
UMC shares rose 0.24 percent to NT$21.50 yesterday.
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