TSMC's December Revenue Down 10% MoM, Up 63% YoY

The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) saw its consolidated revenues for November drop 10.47% from the previous month but rise 63% from the same month last year, to NT$72.27 billion (US$2.40 billion at US$1:NT$30).

In spite of the month-on-month decline, industry executives expect the company to achieve its revenue goal for the final quarter in view of the fact that its total revenue for October and November had already accumulated to NT$153.01 billion (US$5.10 billion). The firm's goal for the fourth quarter is NT$217-220 billion (US$7.23-7.33 billion), which would represent an increase of 4-5% from the previous quarter and be a new all-time high.

TSMC, the world's No.1 pure silicon foundry, ascribed the decrease mostly to lackluster foundry service orders from vendors of non-Apple smartphone chips because of seasonal factors.

The foundry giant chalked up consolidated revenues of NT$80.73 billion (US$2.69 billion) in October alone--the first time its monthly revenue had gone above NT$80 billion (US$2.66 billion). The company attributed this performance to burgeoning demand for its 28nm process foundry capacity and its increased shipments of Apple A8 microprocessors using the 20nm process.

The company ended Q3 with around 10% of its production utilizing the 20nm process, a ratio which is expected to increase to over 20% by the end of the year.

In the first 11 months this year, the company raked in consolidated revenues of around NT$693.29 billion (US$23.10 billion), up a sharp 26.67% from the same period of 2013. For the whole year the company will generate revenues estimated at NT$758-760 billion (US$25.26-25.33 billion), up a strong 27% from last year and hitting a new record high for the second year in a row. Its after-tax net income for 2014 is projected to be equal to its capitalization.

The company's revenues are expected to rise a further 15% next year (compared with the average of 12% for the foundry industry as a whole), to over NT$850 billion (US$28.33 billion). Mark Liu, the company's co-chief executive officer (CEO), says that the growth will come mostly from a considerable increase in shipments of chips using the 16nm FinFET (fin field-effect transistor) process. (KL, Dec. 2014)