TSMC February sales hit record high on strong 3nm demand

Taipei, March 10 (CNA) Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) had consolidated sales of NT$317.66 billion (US$10 billion) in February, the highest ever for the month, driven by robust demand for chips built using the company's advanced 3-nanometer (3nm) process.

The figure was up 22.2 percent from a year earlier but fell 20.8 percent from January, the world's largest contract chipmaker said in a statement Tuesday.

For the first two months of the year, TSMC posted cumulative sales of NT$718.91 billion, up 29.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the company.

Analysts attributed the growth to sustained global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) products produced with TSMC's 3nm process.

TSMC has forecast first-quarter revenue of between US$34.6 billion and US$35.8 billion, based on an assumed exchange rate of NT$31.6 to the U.S. dollar.

Market observers said the chipmaker was likely to meet the target, helped by growing demand from AI-focused customers.

AI chip giant Nvidia Corp. has become a key driver of TSMC's revenue. In 2025, Nvidia contributed NT$726.9 billion, accounting for about 19 percent of TSMC's total sales and making it the company's largest customer.

During a visit to Taiwan last month, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said the company would require a large number of wafers in the coming years and projected that TSMC's production capacity could more than double over the next decade to meet surging AI demand.

TSMC has said it expects 2026 to be a year of strong growth, with revenue in U.S. dollars projected to grow by nearly 30 percent, outperforming the broader semiconductor industry.