Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) revenue jumped 48 percent last month, underscoring how electronics firms scrambled to acquire essential components before global tariffs took effect.
The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp reported monthly sales of NT$349.6 billion (US$11.6 billion). That compares with the average analysts’ estimate for a 38 percent rise in second-quarter revenue.
US President Donald Trump’s trade war is prompting economists to retool GDP forecasts worldwide, casting doubt over the outlook for everything from iPhone demand to computing and datacenter construction.
Photo: An Rong Xu, Bloomberg
However, TSMC — a barometer for global tech spending given its central role in the supply chain — has said that demand remains resilient, including for the high-end Nvidia chips critical to developing artificial intelligence (AI).
Still, the recent surge of the New Taiwan dollar could pressure TSMC’s margins going forward as most of its business is conducted in US dollars.
TSMC has said that for every 1 percent of appreciation of the local currency, there is a 0.4 percentage point erosion of its operating margin.
The Trump administration has decided to roll back some AI chip curbs from the previous administration as part of a broader effort to revise unpopular global semiconductor trade restrictions.
That is a potential boon to TSMC in the short run, though the administration is drafting its own version of the rules that is likely to focus on direct negotiations with nations.
Long-term uncertainty abounds ahead of new, tighter export controls expected soon, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Charles Shum said.
The US administration is set to implement new — likely stricter — measures, focused on blocking China’s indirect access to US-designed AI chips.
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