TSMC Has Better-Than-Expected Consolidated Revenue in February

Taipei, March 11, 2011 (CENS)--Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) scored consolidated revenue of NT$32.69 billion (US$1.08 billion at US$1: NT$30) in February, better than market expectations of NT$32 billion (US$1.06 billion).

The February consolidated result represented a 7.6% contraction from a month earlier whereas posted a gain of 8.5% year on year.

Throughout the first two months this year, the company had consolidated revenue totaling NT$68.06 billion (US$2.26 billion), surging 12.9% from the same period of last year.

The No.1 pure silicon foundry projected its revenue for the quarter at the NT$105-107 billion (US$3.5-3.56 billion) range, inspiring estimation of the company's revenue for March at NT$36.9-38.9 billion (US$1.23-1.29 billion). The quarterly target represents a 2.85-4.67% slip from a quarter earlier.

Industry executives expected a stable exchange rate between the New Taiwan dollar and the U.S. dollar to help push up foundry giant's March revenue. If the foundry's revenue for this month stays at NT$38.9 billion, it will represent an 18.99% increase over February.

On an unconsolidated basis, the company raked in revenue of NT$31.7 billion (US$1.05 billion) in February, slipping 7.8% from a month earlier but gaining 8.8% year on year. In the first two months, the company had total unconsolidated revenue of NT$66.1 billion (US$2.205 billion), surging 13.4% from the same period of last year.

The company's factories are running close to 100% capacity, with production lines offering advanced process technologies including 65nm and below inundated. The company's executives said yesterday at an institutional investor conference that its wafer shipments for the second quarter will increase between 5 and 10% from the first quarter as contracts have booked all of the company's capacity throughout next quarter.

Although TSMC beat up Samsung to build A5 processors for Apple iPad2 and has secured over 80% of the contracts to make ARM-based processors for tablet PCs worldwide, some industry watchers estimated ARM-based processors would contribute barley 3% of TSMC's revenue this year on grounds that global shipments of tablet PCs would amount to around 50 million systems this year.