TSMC sees sales boost in March

By Colleen Taylor, Contributing Editor -- Electronic News, 4/10/2007

Adding proof that the inventory backlog is starting to break up and following similar patterns to those of its rival UMC, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC) today reported sequential sales growth for March after months of consecutive sales declines.

The Taiwan-based foundry giant recorded unconsolidated net sales for March of $662.6 million (21.9 billion Taiwan new dollars), an increase of 6.5 percent over February, and a decrease of 19.1 percent from March 2006.

Despite the slight uptick, the company still has a long way to go before it catches up with last year's sales. Revenues for January through March totaled $1.91 billion (63.3 billion TD), a decrease of 18 percent compared to the same period in 2006.

TSMC's troubles began in October, when it reported $818 million (26.85 billion TD) in revenue for the month, essentially flat with its September sales. As an industry-wide inventory backup plagued the semiconductor market, TSMC went on to report revenue dips of 8 percent and 9.4 percent in November  and December, respectively. The new year didn’t start off much better at the foundry; TSMC's January sales were down 6.8 percent from December's, while its February sales were another 1.3 percent down from January.

According to analysts at iSuppli Corp., semiconductor stockpiles in the global electronics supply chain continued to decline in Q1, thanks to production cuts by chip manufacturers.

TSMC's rival UMC, which also suffered a sales slide beginning in fall of 2006, has reported a similar boost in its March sales. The company Monday posted unaudited net sales of $228.2 million (7.55 billion TD), up 4.28 percent from February's sales, but still a 10.72 percent drop from March 2006.