Foundry sales in 2004 racing 50% ahead of 2003

HSINCHU, Taiwan -- Sales for February at the two leading foundries -- Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. and United Microelectronics Corp. -- published Tuesday (March 9, 2004) demonstrated that these chipmakers are consistently showing a near 50 percent sales growth in 2004 over the first two months of 2003.

TSMC net sales for February 2004 totaled NT$18,385 million (about US$552 million), a decrease of 4.0 percent compared to January 2004 but on a year-over-year basis net sales for February 2004 increased 48.9 percent.

Similarly UMC net sales for February 2004 were NT$8,028 million (about US$241 million), down 3.2 percent on January 2004 but up 47.6 percent over February 2003. TSMC's revenues for January through February 2004 were NT$37,541 million (about US$1.13 billion) up 47.4 percent compared with the same period in 2003. UMC sales for the year to date were NT$16,319 million (about US$490 million) up 50.5 percent compared with January to February in 2003.

Speaking of TSMC's performance Lora Ho, TSMC's chief financial officer, said: "Because February was a short month, unit sales in February 2004 were less than those in January. The company's first quarter 2004 guidance, which was announced on January 29, remains unchanged."