Chipmakers on par with Feb. expectations

For the first two months of 2010, TSMC had consolidated revenue of NT$60.268 billion, a 1.38-time growth from the same period last year.

It is expected the company can reach its first quarter target of combined revenue of NT$89 billion to NT$91 billion, a quarterly loss of 1.18 to 3.35 percent.

The company's net income for the quarter ending December 2009 rose to NT$32.7 billion from NT$12.4 billion a year earlier, the Hsinchu, Taiwan-based company reported in the end of January.

The leading chip foundry will spend US$4.8 billion this year on equipment as the custom chip making market climbs 29 percent, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Morris Chang said during an investors' conference held in January.

Taiwan Semiconductor's US$4.8 billion spending this year will go mostly toward equipment for making chips on 28-nanometer, 40-nanometer and 45-nanometer technologies, the most advanced available. A nanometer, or one billionth of a meter, measures size of connections within a chip, with smaller metrics allowing smaller, faster chips to be made.

Despite shortened working days in February, TSMC sales were close to those of January due to strong demand in the market. Taiwan was on Lunar New Year break from Feb. 13 to 21.

Other foundries, including United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC) and Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp., also reported February sales figures that were close to January's.

UMC, TSMC's main rival, reported February sales of NT$8.634 billion, a monthly increase of 0.4 percent. Vanguard, meanwhile, reported NT$1.171 billion in revenue for February, a month-over-month increase of 1.9 percent.

For UMC, fourth-quarter net income was NT$4.4 billion from a loss of NT$23.5 billion a year earlier, the Hsinchu, Taiwan-based company said in early February. The world's second-largest custom-chipmaker said it would increase capital expenditure to as much as US$1.5 billion in 2010, almost thrice US$551 million it spent in 2009.

On a year-over-year level, February sales of these companies doubled those of the same period in 2009, when the global financial crisis was in full swing.

The custom chip making, or foundry, market will grow by more than the 18 percent forecast by Taiwan Semiconductor for the wider chip industry this year, Chang said during the January investors' conference.

Taiwan Semiconductor plans to pay a dividend of NT$3 for 2009 from earnings of NT$3.44 per share, Lora Ho, Chief Financial Officer said.

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