TSMC's October sales hit new high

Taipei, Nov. 8 (CNA) Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world's largest contract chipmaker, said Friday that its October sales reached a new high, with analysts attributing the growth to strong global demand for the company's high-end production processes.

In a statement, TSMC said it posted NT$314.24 billion (US$9.80 billion) in consolidated sales in October, up 24.8 percent from a month earlier and 29.2 percent from a year earlier.

The October sales beat the previous high of NT$256.95 billion seen in July, according to TSMC's sales data.

Analysts said a rising popularity in high-end smartphones and artificial intelligence technologies pushed up demand for TSMC's advanced production processes, which command higher profit margins.

In addition, Intel, a major foreign semiconductor company, had wanted TSMC to handle some of its chip production. This led to higher shipments of advanced chips made using TSMC's high-end technology, analysts said.

In an investor conference held in mid-October, TSMC forecast its sales for the fourth quarter will range between US$26.1 billion and US$26.9 billion with the median figure expected to up 13 percent from a quarter earlier.

The fourth quarter guidance was based on an exchange rate of NT$32 against one U.S. dollar. Based on that rate, TSMC's fourth-quarter sales will range between NT$835.2 billion and NT$860.8 billion. It means the chipmaker is expected to post NT$260.5 billion to NT$273.3 billion in sales in November and December.

In the first 10 months of this year, TSMC's consolidated sales totaled NT$2.34 trillion, topping NT$2.16 trillion generated for the whole of 2023. The 10-month figure soared 31.5 percent from a year earlier.

Also in the October conference, TSMC forecasted its sales will grow almost 30 percent from a year earlier in 2024 in U.S. dollar terms, higher than its previous estimated increase of 24-26 percent.

TSMC predicted that during the AI boom, chips in tech gadgets including graphics processing units (GPUs), AI accelerators and AI servers are expected to account for about 15 percent of its 2024 sales.