Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), chip supplier for Apple Inc’s iPhones, yesterday said that revenue last month climbed to a record NT$122.88 billion (US$4.16 billion) thanks to robust demand for advanced chips used in 5G-related applications.
Revenue last month increased 15.8 percent year-on-year from NT$106.12 billion and rose 16 percent month-on-month from NT$105.96 billion, TSMC added.
The strong monthly revenue could pave the way for quarterly revenue to match the chipmaker’s expectation of a sequential increase of 7.9 to 10.8 percent for a total of US$11.2 billion to US$11.4 billion this quarter.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
TSMC, which counts Huawei Technologies Co (華為) as its second-biggest client, benefited by receiving rush orders from the Chinese firm. Huawei is stocking up on as many chips as possible before the US’ export restrictions take effect next month.
TSMC, which makes Kirin chips for HiSilicon Technologies Co (海思), a chip designing arm of Huawei, said it would not ship any chips to Huawei after Monday next week.
However, the firm expects 5G phones, high-performance computing devices and Internet-of-Things devices to continue driving strong demand for its 5-nanometer and 7-nanometer chips.
In other news, MediaTek Inc (聯發科), which competes with Qualcomm Inc in the 5G chips arena, yesterday said that revenue last month soared about 42 percent to NT$32.72 billion from NT$23.04 billion a year earlier.
Revenue jumped 22.57 percent month-on-month from NT$26.69 billion in July, the company said, adding that robust demand for 5G chips helped propel last month’s revenue to the highest level in the company’s history.
MediaTek said that this quarter’s growth would be fueled by entry-level 5G smartphones, as more affordable handset models hit the market.
In July, the company launched the Dimensity 720 chip for entry-level 5G smartphones.
The company said that revenue this quarter should expand by between 22 percent and 30 percent to between NT$82.5 billion and NT$87.9 billion.
MediaTek said that it aims to ship its first 5G chips to global markets other than China.
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