Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which supplies chips for Apple Inc’s iPhone 6 series, yesterday said the global semiconductor industry would grow at 5 percent annually in revenue and the company would outgrow its peers.
The forecast represents a slower growth rate compared with the 9 percent annual expansion estimated for the whole semiconductor industry this year.
“Next year, the global semiconductor industry will grow 4 or 5 percent [annually]. We do not see any unusual inventory adjustment [on the supply chain], so we expect next year’s growth will be very healthy,” TSMC co-chief executive officer Mark Liu (劉德音) said in a speech during an annual supply-chain management forum in Hsinchu.
Photo: Tsai Shu-yuan, Taipei Times
The global foundry industry is expected to expand 12 percent in revenue next year from this year, Liu said.
TSMC, the world’s top contract chipmaker, aims to grow at a faster rate than that, he said.
The Hsinchu-based chipmaker is expected to grow its revenue this year by 27 percent year-on-year, as TSMC predicted in October that revenue for this quarter would grow by at least 4 percent to NT$217 billion (US$6.96 billion).
That will bring TSMC’s total revenue this year to at least NT$757.29 billion, compared with the NT$597.02 billion in revenue it made last year.
Reflecting on its market share expansion, TSMC’s foundry market share will rise to 53 percent of the global market this year, compared with 49 percent last year, Liu said.
TSMC attributed its growth to strong demand for 20 nanometer chips, which may account for 20 percent of the firm’s total revenue this quarter, while revenue from 20nm chips would be more than double next year, Liu said.
As for TSMC’s technological roadmap, the company is scheduled to begin pilot production of its advanced 10nm technology at the end of next year and to ramp up production at the end of 2016, he added.
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