Foundry sales in 2004 running 50% ahead of 2003

HSINCHU, Taiwan — February sale figures at the two leading foundries, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. and United Microelectronics Corp., released Tuesday (March 9) demonstrated that the chip makers are showing nearly 50 percent sales growth in 2004 over the first two months of 2003.

TSMC's net sales for February totaled NT$18,385 million (about $552 million), a decrease of 4 percent compared to January 2004. On a year-over-year basis, however, net sales for February increased 48.9 percent.

Similarly, UMC net sales for February were NT$8,028 million (about $241 million), down 3.2 percent over January 2004 but up 47.6 percent over February 2003. TSMC's revenues for January through February 2004 were NT$37,541 million (about $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 $490 million) up 50.5 percent compared with January to February in 2003.

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."