The two Taiwanese companies got off to a good start in the second quarter as TSMC has forecast stronger sales and profit margins than the first quarter. UMC is also aiming to return to profit in the current quarter.

China's recent stimulus spending has triggered fresh demand for an array of electronics products requiring microchips, making TSMC and UMC among major beneficiaries. Market optimists believe the buying could be sustained over the long term.

Unconsolidated sales of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC) were T$21.75 billion ($657 million) last month, down 22.6 percent from a year earlier, its smallest annual drop in six months. But April sales jumped 60 percent from March, its second straight month-on-month rise.

Before the result, Credit Suisse was convinced of TSMC's improvement and raised its 2009 earnings-per-share forecast by 54 percent.

"In our view, longer-term investors should stay the course in a company executing well and maintaining share in a competitive environment," Credit Suisse analyst Randy Abrams wrote in a research note earlier this week.

Crosstown rival United Microelectronics Corp (UMC) saw April sales reach T$6.877 billion, down 19 percent from a year earlier but up from March's T$4.541 billion.

For the first four months of the year, TSMC's consolidated sales totalled T$61.95 billion, down 46.8 percent from the year-earlier period, the company said in a statement, without giving explanation.

UMC's sales totalled T$17.72 billion in the January-April period, down 46 percent from a year earlier.

By: DocMemory
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