Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday said it was retaining its financial forecast for the current quarter, downplaying the effects of a second wafer manufacturing incident.
“TSMC discovered that a shipment of chemical materials used in the manufacturing process deviated from specifications and will affect wafer yield,” the firm said.
The deviation marked the second manufacturing incident in six months, after malware disrupted production in August and caused about NT$2.6 billion (US$84.44 million) in losses.
The firm said it is investigating the chemical incident and communicating with customers.
TSMC made the remarks after the Chinese-language TechNews yesterday reported that about 10,000 wafers produced at the firm’s Tainan fab were affected by the sub-standard materials, quoting sources from the supply chain.
The chipmaker declined to comment on the report and did not provide details about the damage.
TSMC on Jan. 17 forecast that revenue would fall about 20 percent to between US$7.3 billion and US$7.4 billion this quarter, from NT$289.77 billion in the fourth quarter of last year, due to dwindling demand for high-end smartphones and macroeconomic uncertainty.
Gross margin would range from 43 to 45 percent this quarter, from 47.7 percent last quarter.
TSMC shares rose 1.33 percent yesterday to NT$229 in Taipei trading.
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