Quarterly profit for Taiwan chipmaker TSMC climbs 65 percent on strong wafer demand

Taiwan chipmaker TSMC says profit up 65 percent

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said its second quarter profit jumped 65 percent year-on-year amid strong worldwide demand for electronic goods.

Net profit for the April-June period was a record 40.3 billion New Taiwan dollars ($1.3 billion) on consolidated revenue of NT$105 billion ($3.3 billion), the company said Thursday in a statement. Net profit was NT$24.4 billion a year earlier, while consolidated revenue was NT$74 billion.

TSMC’s chips are used in devices ranging from mobile phones to video games to computers. Demand plunged following the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008 but began to recover during the second quarter of last year.

“In the second quarter, demand for TSMC’s wafers continued to be strong, and wafer shipments in all major semiconductor market segments increased from their first quarter levels,” the company said.

Wafers are the slices of semiconductor material from which chips are cut.

It said advanced process technologies — 0.13-micron and below — accounted for 72 percent of wafer revenues, while 90-nanometer process technology contributed 16 percent. Another 27 percent came from 65-nanometer process technology and 16 percent from 40-nanometer.

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