Taiwanese chipmakers are expected to experience a rebound in revenues in the current quarter, fueled by rising demand for chips used in mobile phones, BNP Paribas Securities Co forecast yesterday.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manu-facturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world's top made-to-order chipmaker, and handset chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) would be the top picks, BNP Paribas analyst Eric Chen (陳慧明) said in a report released yesterday.
Chen's forecast would buck the downtrend, as the second quarter is conventionally the slackest season of the year for the electronics industry. In the first quarter, Taiwan's major contract chipmakers posted on average an 8 percent decline in revenues.
"In the second quarter, we expect revenues at the top three foundries [contract chipmakers] to jump 9 percent quarter-on-quarter, driven by handset-related IC requirements," Chen wrote.
TSMC would lead the rebound during the second quarter, while United Microelectronics Corp (UMC,
TSMC, which makes chips for, Texas Instruments Inc, the world's biggest maker of chips used in mobile phones would expand revenues by 10 percent, helped by 15 percent growth in wafer shipments from last quarter, Chen wrote.
Handset basebands and sensors would be the major drivers among others, he said.
UMC, ranked No. 2, would report 6 percent growth in revenues and a 12 percent increase in wafer shipments, he said.
Chen upgraded UMC to "buy" on Sunday, citing a fair valuation and strong growth momentum for next quarter, setting a target price of NT$23.7.
Among the chip design houses, MediaTek would outperform its peers in the second quarter by posting 10 percent quarterly growth in revenues, compared with an average 2 percent increase for the nation's 10 leading chip designers, Chen wrote.
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