Taiwan Semiconductor Manufac-turing Co (台積電) said yesterday it expects its business to grow faster than the overall industry this year.
The world largest contract maker of semiconductors for other chip companies expects its sales growth to exceed the 5 percent to 12 percent estimated by various organizations for the global chip industry this year, said TSMC Chairman Morris Chang (張忠謀) at the annual shareholders meeting.
"Last year was a catastrophe," Chang said. "After this catastrophe, our health, potential and outlook are now brighter than before."
TSMC's shares rose NT$1, or 1.2 percent, to NT$82 yesterday.
Chang said TSMC's sales will improve with each quarter this year, but he did not elaborate further on the company's expectations. The company is scheduled to update its business outlook for this year during an investors' conference tomorrow.
Commenting on the current drought, Chang said TSMC did not expect to encounter water supply problems in the short term.
TSMC's net profit in the first quarter to March fell 21.8 percent year-on-year but it pointed to strong growth from the previous quarter as a sign of recovery.
The company posted a net profit of NT$6.59 billion (US$189.3 million) in the three months, up 46 percent from the last quarter of last year. The shareholders meeting also approved an NT$69.3 billion (US$2 billion) budget for expansion this year. The money will be used to increase production in the company's most advanced production facilities, the company said.
Yesterday Chang told shareholders that TSMC will set up facilities in China in the "not-too-distant future." He explained the reason for TSMC to invest in China mainly because the mainland market is not "adequately open," leading to frequent difficulties for companies with no local ties in entering the market.
Responding to questions of concern about the fact that over 120 former TSMC employees are now working for rival companies in China, Chang said that TSMC will pursue legal action against any former employee who takes business secrets to the competition.
But Chang said that compared to other industries, TSMC's personnel losses are not considered to be "too many" because "several hundreds of thousands" of Taiwanese now work in Shanghai instead.
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