TSMC's sales hit record high in January on strong demand for AI

Taipei, Feb. 10 (CNA) Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) said Tuesday that its January sales hit a record high, rising nearly 37 percent from a year earlier, as strong global demand for artificial intelligence applications fueled growth.

In a statement, the world's largest contract chipmaker reported consolidated sales of NT$401.26 billion (US$12.71 billion) for January, up 36.8 percent year on year and 19.8 percent from December.

Market analysts said the strong performance was driven by robust demand for chips produced using TSMC's advanced 3-nanometer process, which are widely used in AI accelerators. The demand pushed monthly revenue above NT$400 billion for the first time.

Analysts added that enthusiasm for AI applications helped TSMC defy the traditional first-quarter slow season, with sales for the January-March period likely to reach a quarterly high.

At an investor conference in mid-January, TSMC forecast first-quarter sales of between US$34.6 billion and US$35.8 billion, with the midpoint representing 4 percent growth from the previous quarter.

The company used an exchange rate of NT$31.6 per U.S. dollar for the forecast, implying first-quarter sales of NT$1.09 trillion to NT$1.13 trillion. After the strong January performance, analysts said monthly sales in February and March could ease to between NT$346.1 billion and NT$365.0 billion.

Citing strong AI demand and its technological lead in advanced manufacturing, TSMC has also projected revenue growth of close to 30 percent in U.S. dollar terms for 2026, far outpacing the 14 percent growth expected for the global pure-play wafer foundry market.

Last week, Nvidia Corp. CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said in Taipei that TSMC could expand its production capacity by more than 100 percent over the next decade as surging AI demand strains the global semiconductor supply chain.