Taipei, Dec. 8 (CNA) Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world's largest contract chipmaker, said its sales for November hit the second-highest monthly high, with market analysts attributing the strong showing to solid demand for the company's chips made on the advanced 10 nanometer process.
The launch of Apple Inc.'s latest iPhones in the global market in September helped to boost TSMC's shipments of chips built on the 10nm technology in November, as the company is believed to be the sole supplier of the A11 processor for iPhone production, analysts said.
In November, TSMC said in a statement that the chipmaker posted NT$93.16 billion (US$3.11 billion) in consolidated sales, down 1.4 percent from October, when sales stood at NT$94.52 billion, the highest monthly level for the company.
However, the November figure was up 0.1 percent from a year earlier, TSMC data shows.
TSMC's aggregate sales for the October to November period totaled NT$187.67 billion or about US$6.26 billion, so analysts said it is possible for the chipmaker to achieve its fourth-quarter sales target ranging between US$9.1 billion and US$9.2 billion.
In mid-October, TSMC gave its fourth-quarter sales guidance in U.S. dollar terms, expecting that its revenue will rise about 10 percent from the third quarter to a new quarterly high.
In the first 11 months of this year, TSMC's consolidated sales totaled NT$877.55 billion, up 2 percent from a year earlier.
Looking ahead, TSMC said its sales in U.S. dollar terms are expected to grow 5 percent-10 percent year-on-year over the next three years on the back of demand for chips used in mobile devices, high performance computing, automotive electronics and the Internet of Things.
Meanwhile, TSMC expects that its 12-inch wafer fab in China's Nanjing, will start shipping to its customers in May 2018.
Ground was broken in July 2016 for the new Nanjing 12-inch wafer plant and TSMC had previously scheduled shipments for the second half of next year.
TSMC said the new schedule is because construction of the new plant has been ahead of schedule, and the change is expected to help the chipmaker secure more orders as demand remains strong.
(By Jackson Chang and Frances Huang)
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