Sales prospects of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) for the second half of 2013 still look promising as the foundry house's production capacity for its 28nm as well as 40nm processes has been fully booked through the third quarter, according to sources at fabless IC firms.

TSMC continues to enjoy a ramp-up in orders from Qualcomm, MediaTek and Broadcom, which have shifted their focus to the rapidly growing low-cost smartphone market in emerging economies, the sources indicated. IC demand for low-end to midrange smartphones has been robust, despite a recent slowdown in demand for high-end models from Samsung Electronics and HTC.

Demand for PC-related chips is also picking up recently, which has further extended order visibility for TSMC's advanced processing technology particularly 28nm, the sources said. An anticipated influx of orders for graphics processors, wireless connectivity chips and CPU products will likely cause TSMC's 28nm foundry capacity to be tight in the third quarter, the sources noted.

Driven by strong orders for 28nm as well as 40nm chips, TSMC is expected to report sales growth of 10% or even more sequentially for the third quarter, the sources said.

TSMC previously disclosed that the company would triple production and revenues from 28nm wafers in 2013 compared with 2012, and identified the node technology as the main growth driver for the company this year.

By: DocMemory
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