Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that its sales hit a record high last month, with analysts saying the company has benefited from strong global demand for consumer electronics.
TSMC posted sales of NT$34.82 billion (US$1.07 billion) last month, up 3 percent from April and up 37.9 percent from a year earlier. In the first five months of this year, sales totaled NT$160.82 billion, up 84.4 percent from a year ago.
“Like its rival United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), TSMC’s strong performance was within expectations, as the global economy is on the road to recovery,” Concord Securities (康和證券) analyst Jim Cheng said.
UMC, the world’s second-largest contract chipmaker, saw sales hit a 30-month high to reach NT$10.09 billion last month, up 8.27 percent from a month earlier and up 34.28 percent from the year-earlier level.
Cheng said TSMC’s major customers, such as Intel Corp, Qualcomm Inc and Broadcom Corp, have placed large orders since the beginning of this year on an upbeat outlook on global PC and cellphone sales.
“It is no surprise to see that TSMC has enjoyed full production capacity on these large orders,” Cheng said. “With a buying spree ahead of the Christmas season, the full capacity utilization will continue into the third quarter. We will see TSMC’s sales continue to grow.”
Market observers said TSMC is expected to achieve the sales target of NT$102 billion it set for the second quarter of this year, up more than 10 percent from the first quarter.
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