Taiwan Semiconductor Manufac-turing Corp (TSMC, 台積電), the world's leading contract chipmaker, yesterday reported that sales last month bucked the seasonal downtrend and rose 3.6 percent from December thanks to continuing strong demand.
Sales last month also jumped 45 percent to NT$31.07 billion (US$980 million) from NT$21.39 billion a year ago.
Late last month, the Hsinchu-based chipmaker projected that first-quarter revenues would fall in the range of NT$87 billion to NT$89 billion, which would represent a 5 percent to 7 percent sequential drop in the traditionally slack first quarter.
The company said that robust chip demand for mobile phones and computers in the fourth quarter were expected to extend into this quarter, but demand for consumer electronic chips might lag behind.
Rival United Microelectronics Co (UMC, 聯電) saw sales last month edge down 0.26 percent year-on-year, or 2.93 percent month-on-month to NT$8.22 billion.
Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (ASE,
To cope with an expected industry slowdown, TSMC said it planned to cut its capital spending by 30 percent to US$1.8 billion this year, from US$2.6 billion last year, to keep factory usage at a high level.
China’s economic planning agency yesterday outlined details of measures aimed at boosting the economy, but refrained from major spending initiatives. The piecemeal nature of the plans announced yesterday appeared to disappoint investors who were hoping for bolder moves, and the Shanghai Composite Index gave up a 10 percent initial gain as markets reopened after a weeklong holiday to end 4.59 percent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dived 9.41 percent. Chinese National Development and Reform Commission Chairman Zheng Shanjie (鄭珊潔) said the government would frontload 100 billion yuan (US$14.2 billion) in spending from the government’s budget for next year in addition
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