Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/07
By: Jackson Chang and Frances Huang

Taipei, Oct. 7 (CNA) Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chip maker, reported a new quarterly high in sales for the third quarter of this year as market analysts attributed the growth to solid global demand for smartphones.

During the July-September period, TSMC posted NT$260.41 billion (US$8.27 billion) in consolidated sales, up 17.4 percent from the second quarter. The third-quarter sales also beat the company’s earlier guidance of between NT$254 billion and NT$257 billion, the chip maker’s data shows.

As the market believes that TSMC is the sole supplier of the A10 processor for Apple’s latest iPhone models, analysts said that the chip maker has benefited from the launch of the 4.7-inch iPhone 7 and the 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus in September, which gave a boost to the Taiwanese firm’s shipments in the third quarter.

TSMC reported its latest sales data after the local equity market closed Friday. However, TSMC shares appeared resilient ahead of the release of the sales report, amid optimism toward its shipments for the three-month period.   [FULL  STORY]