Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s top contract chipmaker, yesterday said that next year it would continue to outgrow the global chip industry, which is expected to see revenue expansion of up to 7 percent annually, because of its strong technological competitiveness.
This year, TSMC expected its revenues to grow 9 percent from last year in US dollars, TSMC chairman Morris Chang (張忠謀) told investors in October. Last year, the Hsinchu-based chipmaker made NT$419.54 billion (US$13.91 billion) in revenues.
This year, the world semiconductor industry will grow just 1 percent annually in revenue as the European debt crisis and wobbling US economic recovery stall demand for electronics, Chang forecast in October.
Next year, excluding memory chips, the world’s chip industry will grow 6 or 7 percent as global economic growth continues to recover at a very slow pace next year, Chang told local cable TV network UBN yesterday on the sidelines of the annual Supply Chain Management Forum organized by TSMC in Hsinchu.
During the 2008-2009 financial crisis, China played a key role as the engine that fueled the world’s economic recovery, Chang said. However, this time it would be unlikely to prop up global growth, he said, because China’s GDP growth was slowing down.
“TSMC has a good, competitive position, so I expect that TSMC’s growth to be higher than 6 or 7 percent,” Chang said.
TSMC has greatly outpaced its rivals in developing new 28--nanometer-process technology and 20-nanometer-process technology. TSMC expects 28-nanometer technology chips to account for 10 percent of its revenues, up from the 2 percent TSMC forecast for this quarter.
TSMC planned to start risk production for its 20-nanometer technology chips in the third quarter next year. Risk production involves producing samples prior to beginning mass production.
Separately, TSMC sold NT$17 billion of corporate bonds in an auction yesterday, Bloomberg reported, citing a source familiar with the matter.
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