TSMC, UMC Score Record Revenues in May

Taipei, June 20, 2012 (CENS)--Both Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) and United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC) saw their revenues for May hit new highs of NT$44.1 billion (US$1.5 billion at US$1:NT$29) and NT$9.2 billion (US$317 million), respectively.

TSMC, currently the world's No.1 pure silicon foundry, projects its revenue for the second quarter at NT$126-128 billion (US$4.3-4.4 billion), an increase of 19.42-21.3% from NT$105.5 billion (US$3.6 billion) of the first quarter. Based on the projection, the company's revenue for June should reach over NT$41.3 billion (US$1.4 billion).

The bright Q2 forecast is based on the vibrant market of mobile computing devices and vigorous backlog buildups at distributors.

Although industry executives estimate TSMC will continue growing into the third quarter, the growth pace will slow down to less than 10%. Growth drivers for the company's revenue for next quarter would be contracts from chip vendors Qualcomm, Broadcom, MediaTek, F-MStar, Dialog and OnmiVision.

When it comes to outlook of the company's operation in the fourth quarter and the first quarter next year, industry executives feel that European debt crisis and macro economy will remain the uncertain factors that my affect the company's sales performance in the fourth quarter this year and the first quarter next year.

They estimate 20nm process would become one of the leading drivers for TSMC's next growth peak. The company is constructing its second 300mm wafer fab capable of offering 20nm process.

No.2 player UMC projects its revenue for the second quarter at NT$27.7 billion (US$955 million), surging at least 15% from the first quarter.

In the first five months this year, the company had total revenue of NT$42 billion (US$1.4 billion), dwindling 10.59% from the same period of last year. In May alone, the company's revenue was NT$9.2 billion (US$317 million), inching up 0.89% from a month earlier but down 2.06% from the same month of last year. In April and May, the company raked in cumulative revenue of NT$18.3 billion (US$632 million), equating to 77% of its revenue for the first.

UMC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) S.W. Sun points out that market cycle hit the bottom in the first quarter this year along with inventory destocking at distributors coming to an end after quarters of buildup interruptions.

Sun says the company will improve its average selling prices after its 28nm process enters into volume production. He estimates the company's gross margin for the second quarter to be better than first-quarter's 19.1% thanks to sales contribution from 28nm process.

However, industry executives say the company's flawless rate of 28nm production still lags behind that of TSMC, estimating UMC's revenue for the third quarter to grow at quarterly rate below 10%.