Taiwan's TSMC, UMC say clients not pulling orders
TAIPEI, Sept 6 (Reuters) - The world's two top microchip foundries denied a local newspaper report on Wednesday which said the Taiwan-based duo were losing orders because of slower than expected mobile phone sales.
The Economic Daily News reported that mobile phone sales were not as good as expected, forcing international telecom giants like Motorola (NYSE:MOT - news) and Alcatel to withdraw orders from Taiwan's foundries, or made-to-order chip manufacturers.
Both Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) , the world's largest foundry, and second-ranked United Microelectronics Corp (UMC) , said demand for their products far exceeded their supply.
``This is impossible,'' a TSMC spokesman told Reuters. ``We don't worry at all over losing orders. Our capacity utilisation rate still far exceeds 100 percent.''
TSMC's total sales for the first seven months of 2000 rose a year-on-year 120.1 percent to T$79.934 billion, the firm said.
A UMC spokesman called the report ``a rumour.''
``We did not lose any orders from our buyers. Demand for our products still far exceeds our capacity,'' he said by telephone.
UMC's cumulative sales for the first seven months jumped 232.57 percent year-on-year to T$53.08 billion, the company said.
On Wednesday, TSMC shares fell T$3.00 to T$131.00 and UMC shares lost T$2.50 to T$80.00 in line with a 2.25 percent fall in the TAIEX (^TWII - news) share index.
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