Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world's largest contract chipmaker, accounted for 30 percent of the global IC industry's total sales, excluding memory chips, in 2022.

In a report released to TSMC shareholders Friday ahead of the chipmaker's annual general meeting on June 6, TSMC said it was the first time in the company's history that its revenue made up 30 percent of the global total.

According to TSMC, the total represented a year-over-year increase of 4 percentage points in 2022.

TSMC also revealed that it generated NT$2.26 trillion (US$73.86 billion) in consolidated sales in 2022, up 42.6 percent from a year earlier and the 13th consecutive annual increase.

"The year 2022 was a landmark year for TSMC," the chipmaker said in the report. "Supported by our strong technology leadership and differentiation, we delivered a thirteen-consecutive year of record revenue, with strong profitable growth."

At the end of 2022, TSMC began commercial production of chips made on its advanced 3-nanometer processes, which TSMC said it expects to make a strong contribution to its third-quarter revenues.

In 2022, advanced technologies, referring to the 7nm process and beyond, made up 53 percent of its total wafer revenue, up from 50 percent in 2021, TSMC said.

According to TSMC, its 2022 net profit totaled NT$1.01 trillion, up 70.4 percent from a year earlier on the back of global strong demand for emerging technologies such as 5G applications, high-performance computing devices and automotive electronics.

Meanwhile, the firm's 2022 earnings per share have nearly tripled over the past three years to reach NT$39.2, TSMC said.

TSMC said it shipped about 15.30 million units in 12-inch equivalent wafers in 2022, up 1.1 million units in 12-inch equivalent wafers a year earlier, after the company deployed 288 distinct process technologies, and rolled out 12,698 different products for 532 customers.

The chipmaker is developing the more sophisticated 2nm process which is scheduled to begin commercial production in 2025 with a trial run slated for 2024. TSMC said the 2nm process will become the most advanced semiconductor technology in the global IC industry in both density and energy efficiency when it is introduced.

With its growth momentum accelerating in 2022, TSMC's executives received more annual pay.

According to TSMC's annual general meeting agenda, Mark Liu (???), company chairman, was paid NT$632 million in board member payments in 2022, up NT$231 million or 57.87 percent from a year earlier. Liu's pay accounted for 0.0622 percent of TSMC's total net income.

For his part, TSMC CEO C.C. Wei (???) received NT$643 million in salary in 2022, up NT$243 million or 60.72 percent from a year earlier. Wei's salary was equivalent to 0.0633 percent of TSMC's total net profit last year.

After a strong showing in 2022, TSMC cannot isolate itself from the current inventory adjustments in the global semiconductor industry amid weakening demand from end users.

In an investor conference held in mid-April, TSMC gave guidance, expecting its sales for 2023 will fall 1-6 percent from a year earlier in U.S. dollar terms, a downgrade from its earlier estimate of a "slight increase" made in its last investor conference held in mid-January.

However, TSMC has maintained its 2023 capex budget range at US$32 billion-US$36 billion, unchanged from the plan the company disclosed at April's investor conference.

In the first quarter of this year, TSMC posted NT$508.63 billion in consolidated sales, down 18.7 percent from a quarter earlier but up 3.6 percent from a year earlier, while its net profit hit NT$206.99 billion, down 30.0 percent from a quarter earlier but up 2.1 percent from a year earlier.

By: DocMemory
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