TSMC's April Sales Hit All Time High, up 24% MoM
2014/05/28 | By Ken LiuTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) had revenue of NT$61.8 billion (US$2.06 billion) in April alone, surging 23.9% from the previous month to hit a new high and marking the company's first monthly revenue to exceed NT$60 billion (US$2 billion), which the company ascribes mostly to thriving sales of its 20nm and 28nm process foundry services.
The April result helped increase the company's revenue for Jan.-Apr. to NT$210.1 billion (US$7 billion), growing 14.9% year on year.
TSMC President and Co-Chief Executive Officer Mark Liu estimates the company's revenue for the second quarter to increase 21.4-23.5% from the previous quarter, to NT$180-183 billion (US$6-6.1 billion) on ground that market for mobile devices remains strong into the second quarter, PC replacement cycle will continue at enterprises and consumer-electronics manufacturers are vigorously building inventory for the upcoming high season.
Industry executives expect the company's second-quarter revenue to be at the top of the target range based on the strong April result. They believe the supplier of tailored chips will still command an overwhelming share of the market for 28nm process foundry service although Samsung Electronics, GlobalFoundries and UMC are competing for the market.
They said TSMC is nearly unmatched in 28nm process involving the high K metal gate (HKMG) technology and the sole supplier of 20nm process foundry service, hence being the exclusive supplier to draw chip vendors worldwide seeking advanced foundry services.
TSMC is constructing an advanced wafer factory dubbed Fab14. The factory's sixth production module will begin volume production by providing 20nm process technology and its seventh module will begin pilot production using 16nm Fin FET process technology by the end of this year.
United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC), another major silicon foundry supplier in Taiwan, saw revenue for April hit a nine-month high of NT$11.5 billion (US$384.3 million), which is only a 2.1% increase from a month earlier. The company projects its wafer shipment to increase 11-14% quarter over quarter in the second quarter. The company's 200mm wafer fabs are running at full capacity and it is striving for 28nm foundry orders from contract buyers.
Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp. (VIS), another pure chipmaker in Taiwan, reported revenue of NT$1.8 billion (US$62.9 million) in April alone, inching up 1.2% from the previous month. The company is in talks with Nanya Technology Corp. over buying its Sumpro Electronics, a 300mm wafer fab to ease its increasingly strained capacity. Industry executives expect the negotiated fab to begin boosting VIS's revenue in July this year, when the deal is scheduled to be done. (KL)
Mar.-Apr. 2014 Results for Taiwan's Pure Silicon Foundries
| Company
| Apr. 2014 result (in NT$1bn)
| Mar. 2014 result (in NT$1bn)
| MoM change (%)
| Apr. 2014 result (in NT$1bn)
| YoY change (%)
|
| TSMC
| 61.8
| 49.9
| 23.9
| 50.0
| 23.6
|
| UMC
| 11.5
| 11.2
| 2.1
| 10.2
| 12.1
|
| VIS
| 1.88
| 1.86
| 1.2
| 1.7
| 9.5
|