Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday reported a second straight month of revenue growth to NT$176.54 billion (US$5.75 billion) last month, its best result since February.
Last month’s revenue expanded 19.4 percent from NT$147.9 billion in April, but was down 4.94 percent from NT$185.71 billion in May last year.
TSMC reported first-quarter revenue of NT$833.07 billion, down 1.9 percent from NT$849.34 billion in the same period last year.
Photo: Cheng I-hwa, Bloomberg
TSMC has said that it expects a drop of about 10 percent in revenue in the first half of this year from the same period last year, compared with an earlier estimate of a mid-to-high single-digit percentage fall.
The company attributed the changed outlook to longer-than-expected inventory digestion in its supply chains that is likely to extend into the third quarter.
It made NT$1.025 trillion in the first half of last year.
TSMC said it expects second-half revenue to be higher than the first half, benefiting from new product launches by customers.
There has been a pickup in demand, especially for generative artificial intelligence (AI) chips, propelling demand for high-end chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) technology, TSMC said on Tuesday.
That reinforced the company’s expectations that this quarter would be the bottom for its business.
TSMC on Thursday launched a new advanced packaging fab to support the next generation of chips for high-performance computing, AI, mobile applications and other products.
The new fab at the Jhunan Science Park (竹南科學園區) in Miaoli County is the chipmaker’s largest advanced chip packaging fab.
The fab would add capacity flexibility for its advanced packaging and silicon stacking technologies, such as small outline integrated circuits, integrated fan-out (InFO) and CoWoS, while improving advanced testing, production yield and efficiency, TSMC said.
Meanwhile, United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 3 contract chipmaker, reported a third consecutive month of revenue growth last month.
Revenue rose 1.7 percent to NT$18.78 billion from NT$18.46 billion in April, although it declined 23.14 percent from NT$24.43 billion in the same month last year.
In the first five months of this year, UMC revenue fell 17.35 percent to NT$91.45 billion from NT$110.66 billion in the same period last year.
The company said it has not seen strong signs of a significant recovery in the second half, which is usually the peak season for the electronics industry.
Gudeng Precision Industrial Co (家登精密), a key supplier of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) pods to TSMC, yesterday said revenue expanded 22.09 percent annually to NT$2.09 billion in the first five months, bucking the semiconductor industry’s downtrend.
Gudeng said its factory is fully utilized this quarter, thanks to robust demand.
Separately, Gudeng has lost a patent infringement lawsuit against bigger rival Entegris Inc.
Gudgeng in November 2021 filed a case accusing Entegris of illegally using its patents for its EUV and front-opening unified pod (FOUP)-related technologies.
Entegris, a supplier of advanced materials and process solutions for the semiconductor and other high-tech industries, said that the Intellectual Property and Commercial Court ruled in its favor.
The ruling reaffirms Entegris’ unwavering commitment to identifying and safeguarding valid third-party intellectual property rights, and it remains steadfast in protecting these rights whenever the need arises, Entegris said in a statement.
Taiwan’s technology protection rules prohibits Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) from producing 2-nanometer chips abroad, so the company must keep its most cutting-edge technology at home, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks in response to concerns that TSMC might be forced to produce advanced 2-nanometer chips at its fabs in Arizona ahead of schedule after former US president Donald Trump was re-elected as the next US president on Tuesday. “Since Taiwan has related regulations to protect its own technologies, TSMC cannot produce 2-nanometer chips overseas currently,” Kuo said at a meeting of the legislature’s
TECH WAR CONTINUES: The suspension of TSMC AI chips and GPUs would be a heavy blow to China’s chip designers and would affect its competitive edge Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, is reportedly to halt supply of artificial intelligence (AI) chips and graphics processing units (GPUs) made on 7-nanometer or more advanced process technologies from next week in order to comply with US Department of Commerce rules. TSMC has sent e-mails to its Chinese AI customers, informing them about the suspension starting on Monday, Chinese online news outlet Ijiwei.com (愛集微) reported yesterday. The US Department of Commerce has not formally unveiled further semiconductor measures against China yet. “TSMC does not comment on market rumors. TSMC is a law-abiding company and we are
FLEXIBLE: Taiwan can develop its own ground station equipment, and has highly competitive manufacturers and suppliers with diversified production, the MOEA said The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday disputed reports that suppliers to US-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) had been asked to move production out of Taiwan. Reuters had reported on Tuesday last week that Elon Musk-owned SpaceX had asked their manufacturers to produce outside of Taiwan given geopolitical risks and that at least one Taiwanese supplier had been pushed to relocate production to Vietnam. SpaceX’s requests place a renewed focus on the contentious relationship Musk has had with Taiwan, especially after he said last year that Taiwan is an “integral part” of China, sparking sharp criticism from Taiwanese authorities. The ministry said
US President Joe Biden’s administration is racing to complete CHIPS and Science Act agreements with companies such as Intel Corp and Samsung Electronics Co, aiming to shore up one of its signature initiatives before US president-elect Donald Trump enters the White House. The US Department of Commerce has allocated more than 90 percent of the US$39 billion in grants under the act, a landmark law enacted in 2022 designed to rebuild the domestic chip industry. However, the agency has only announced one binding agreement so far. The next two months would prove critical for more than 20 companies still in the process
RSS