Pure play foundry TSMC, the leading manufacturer of semiconductors designed by fabless companies, is gearing up to expand its business.
The firm yesterday delivered its best quarterly earnings for nine months and said demand for its services would cause it to sink additional money into capital spending.
The news comes at a time when the semiconductor industry is showing signs of some recovery – it was particularly hard hit by the credit crunch.
But Morris Chang, TSMC CEO and chairman and widely seen as the founding father of Taiwanese chip manufacturing, said his company had underestimated demand for semiconductors over the last nine months.
Because of the nature of TSMC’s business, its bullish stand may well herald the end of a period which has particularly battered the IT industry.
The firm said that gross margin for the quarter was 46.2 percent. In a prepared statement the firm said: “As a result of improved demand outlook, customers’ companies launching new products and customers’ inventory restocking, the second quarter saw a sharp rebound in the demand for semiconductors across all applications.”
