Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) revenue rose 9.4 percent in the first two months of this year, riding a wave of global artificial intelligence (AI) development that is helping offset potential fallout from slowing iPhone sales.
Asia’s largest company reported sales of NT$397.4 billion (US$12.6 billion) in the January-February period. That is despite signs that Apple Inc, which accounted for 25 percent of its business last year, is struggling to sustain momentum for the iPhone, particularly in China.
TSMC, the main chipmaker to Nvidia Corp, is riding a wave of activity in AI that accelerated after OpenAI rolled out ChatGPT.
Photo: Mike Kai Chen, Bloomberg
The world’s most advanced chipmaker is considered one of the major beneficiaries of a rise in development of large language models that require high-end chips. This week, JPMorgan became the latest brokerage to raise its price target for the Taiwanese company, citing not just AI, but potentially business from Intel Corp as well in coming years.
TSMC is “the enabler for almost all AI processing at the data center and the edge,” analysts including Gokul Hariharan wrote.
In January, executives said they expect a return to solid growth this quarter and gave themselves room to raise capital spending this year, suggesting TSMC anticipates a recovery in smartphone and computing demand. That outlook follows a years-long slump that many industry players expect to end this year.
Its second-largest customer makes up 11 percent of sales. Analyst Mark Li at Bernstein believes it is Advanced Micro Devices Inc, which is aiming to gain share in the AI chip market.
United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, saw revenue edge down 0.15 percent in the first two months of the year, from NT$36.52 billion made in the same period last year.
The Hsinchu-based chipmaker in January said wafer shipments this quarter would rise 2 or 3 percent sequentially, but the blended average selling price would drop about 5 percent due to a one-off pricing adjustment at the beginning of the year.
UMC said it was cautiously optimistic about this year as an inventory glut in the auto and industrial segments remained, although demand for chips used in smartphones and PCs has stabilized.
UMC counts Intel among its customers for 28-nanometer chips. In January, it announced that it has formed strategic partnership with Intel to produce 12-nanometer chips at one of Intel’s factory in the US to secure customer orders for advanced chips.
Additional reporting by Lisa Wang
After several years flying high as Asia’s best Nvidia Corp proxy, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is increasingly vying with other artificial intelligence (AI) stocks for investor attention. Stock traders are chasing a wider array of beneficiaries as mainstream usage of AI creates demand for hardware beyond the most-advanced chips TSMC makes for Nvidia. Subthemes from the deepening memory crunch to advances in robotics are also luring bids. At the same time, investment caps on single stocks are pushing funds to diversify, while retail investors long familiar with TSMC through its US depositary receipts are being offered a broader set of
UNDER MICROSCOPE: Taiwan detained three people who allegedly conspired to buy servers in Taiwan and export them using fraudulent documentation, prosecutors said Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday urged Super Micro Computer Inc to tighten up on compliance after Taiwan detained three people this week for allegedly making fraudulent declarations about artificial intelligence (AI) servers made by its US partner. The development marked the nation’s first crackdown on semiconductor smuggling, which grew after the US slapped restrictions on exports of high-end chips such as Nvidia AI accelerators to China. Nvidia is “rigorous” in explaining regulations to all of its partners, Huang told reporters after arriving in Taipei. “Ultimately Super Micro has to run their own company,” he said in response to
Netherlands-based semiconductor equipment supplier ASML Holding NV yesterday said that it is planning to hire an additional 1,000 people in Taiwan this year in response to growing demand from clients. ASML had previously planned to recruit 600 people this year, but that the plan has been adjusted upward, ASML vice president and ASML Taiwan general manager Grace Wang (汪佳慧) told reporters. ASML has a workforce of more than 4,500 in Taiwan, accounting for about 10 percent of its global total, Wang said. This year’s recruitment campaign would focus on adding people in the customer support, manufacturing and supply chain domains to assist ASML
TECH RELIANCE: Growth is increasingly reflecting an unequal K-shaped distribution, where technology sectors outperform and other industries struggle, an expert said Standard Chartered Bank has significantly raised its forecast for Taiwan’s economic growth to 9.5 percent this year, up from 7.6 percent previously, citing surging artificial intelligence (AI) demand driving exports, semiconductor production and investment. The upgrade reflects a sustained AI supercycle that continues to fuel demand for advanced chips and technology infrastructure, which form the backbone of Taiwan’s exports, the bank said in a report this week. “We raise our 2026 growth forecast to reflect a much stronger-than-expected first-quarter GDP figure,” Standard Chartered senior economist for greater China and Asia Tommy Wu (胡東安) said in the report. Driven largely by a 35.3 percent
RSS