Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday said third-quarter revenue was likely to surpass its target after rush orders drove the company’s sales last month to their strongest level in 10 months.
Last month’s revenue expanded 6.2 percent to NT$37.65 billion (US$1.29 billion) from NT$35.43 billion in July, according to an e-mailed statement, marking the highest monthly revenues since October last year, when TSMC made NT$38.43 billion.
On an annual basis, the numbers inched up 0.7 percent from NT$37.39 billion, according to the statement.
“In August, we completed some rush orders for customers; therefore, TSMC’s third-quarter revenue is likely to exceed the guidance given on July 28,” TSMC chief financial officer Lora Ho (何麗梅) said in the statement.
TSMC had projected revenues would shrink by between 5.9 percent and 7.7 percent to NT$102 billion and NT$104 billion this quarter, compared with NT$110.51 billion in the second quarter, saying excessive inventories would cut customer demand amid a sluggish global economy.
“However, given the increased uncertainty in the global economy, TSMC does not expect these short-term rush orders will continue into the fourth quarter,” Ho said.
TSMC’s revenue last month were nearly 10 percent higher than the NT$34.26 billion estimated by Credit Suisse analyst Randy Abrams. Nonetheless, Abrams remained conservative about the chipmaker’s prospects, saying in a research note yesterday he expected TSMC’s revenues to drop this month from last month.
Abrams said he expected TSMC’s revenue this quarter to fall into the chipmaker’s own forecast range, compared with his projection of NT$102.83 billion, given limited upside amid ongoing inventory digestion through the first quarter of next year.
Local rival United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) said it expected inventory correction to last over a couple of quarters.
On Thursday, UMC said its revenue dropped 6.9 percent last month to NT$8.2 billion from July’s NT$8.81 billion, or down 24.7 percent year-on-year from NT$10.89 billion.
Meanwhile, Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp (世界先進), which makes driver ICs used in PC and TV flat panels, yesterday said its revenue was little changed at NT$1.385 billion last month, from NT$1.384 billion in July. It was also down 17.97 percent from NT$1.69 billion in the same month last year.
The company said in July that shipments would slide by 1 to 3 percent this quarter from last quarter’s 310,000 units of eight-inch equivalent wafers because of weak end product demand, while prices would be flat.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last