TSMC and UMC to see 2Q09 orders grow by double-digits, utilization to rise
Claire Sung, Taipei; Jessie Shen, DIGITIMES [Friday 13 March 2009]
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) are expected to receive a substantial number of new orders for the second quarter of 2009, and their utilization rates will start to rebound, according to industry sources.
Both pure-play foundries are expected to see orders for GPUs, handset chips and network-related ICs increase by double-digit levels over the upcoming quarter, said the sources. Although TSMC and UMC have recently secured new orders with IC designers thanks to rush orders from China and demand for TV converter boxes from the US, end markets are still uncertain, the sources indicated.
Since the fourth quarter of 2008, TSMC, UMC and Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing have struggled to secure new orders for chips used in a wide range of applications including PCs and handsets. The top-three chip foundries were downbeat about their outlooks for the first quarter of the year after posting a poor fourth quarter of 2008. But, beginning this month, a slight pick-up has allowed TSMC and Chartered to revise upward their first-quarter performance estimates, signaling that the market has already hit bottom.
UMC has not changed its guidance for the first quarter, but the foundry managed a narrower sequential drop in revenues in February.
As previously reported, both TSMC and UMC have recently seen utilization rates grow to 50-60% at some of their 8- and 12-inch fabs. |
