TSMC, foundry, Taiwan, semiconductor, demand TSMC forecasts falling sales in Q3

LONDON – Foundry Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. has announced that its net income fell in the second quarter and has forecast its revenue will decline by about 7 percent in the third quarter.

"The outlook of the global economic condition has weakened in the last few months, which has added volatility to the supply chain inventory, and in turn, has significantly impacted the demand for our wafers in the third quarter of 2011," said Lora Ho, senior vice president and chief financial officer of TSMC, in a statement. "Relative to the second quarter, the computer and consumer segments will decline more than the decline of the communications segment while industrial/standard segment will increase," Ho added.

The third quarter revenue is expected to be between NT$102 billion and NT$104 billion (between about $3.53 billion and about $3.60 billion) which is between 6 and 8 percent down on the NT110.51 billion (about $3.83 billion) that TSMC (Hsinchu, Taiwan) reported for the second quarter.

TSMC's revenue – a bellwhether for the foundry and semiconductor sectors – has climbed sequentially in the third quarter by about 8 percent on average over the last decade, as customers try to load the sales channel prior to the winter holiday season. The only time TSMC's sale revenue has fallen in the third quarter in the last decade was in 2002 when it dipped sequentially by 10 percent.

TSMC announced a net income of NT$35.95 billion on consolidated revenue of NT$110.51 billion for the second quarter ended June 30, 2011. In US dollars terms, second quarter revenue increased 6.5 percent from the previous quarter and increased 16 percent year-over-year, TSMC said. Compared to first quarter of 2011, second quarter of 2011 results represent a 4.9 percent increase in revenue, and a 0.9 percent decrease in net income. Compared with 2Q10 net income fell by 10.8 percent.

During the second quarter 40-nanometer process technology accounted for 26 percent of total wafer revenues, and 65-nanometer accounted for 29 percent, TSMC said.


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TSMC, foundry, Taiwan, semiconductor, demand TSMC forecasts falling sales in Q3