Taipei: Chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) published on Thursday record high sales figures for March and the first quarter, thanks to strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) technology, the company said. In a statement, the world's largest contract chipmaker noted that its consolidated sales for March totaled approximately NT$285.96 billion (US$8.70 billion), while revenue for the January-March period reached NT$839.25 billion.
According to Focus Taiwan, sales in March increased 10 percent from February and rose 46.5 percent from a year earlier. TSMC highlighted that the first quarter revenue showed 41.6 percent year-on-year growth, attributing this to the robust demand for AI technology, which has been the main driving force behind the year-on-year growth.
TSMC announced that the record sales figures align with expectations and has scheduled an investor conference on April 17 to detail its first quarter results and provide guidance for the second quarter. This announcement follows the company's earlier forecast in February, where it anticipated its first quarter of 2025 revenue to be on the lower end of the guidance range of US$25 billion to US$25.8 billion due to the impact of the Jan. 21 earthquake that affected Tainan and Chiayi in southern Taiwan.
In the January revenue report published on Feb. 10, TSMC revealed it had to scrap a number of wafers in process as a result of the earthquake and subsequent aftershocks. The company's business outlook was initially based on an expected exchange rate of US$1 to NT$32.8.
In addition, TSMC announced on March 4 a new plan to increase U.S. investment in advanced semiconductor manufacturing by US$100 billion, enhancing its ongoing US$65 billion investment in Phoenix, Arizona. This comes amid U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement on April 2 of sweeping tariffs on imported goods, aimed at addressing trade imbalances and revitalizing domestic manufacturing.
Meanwhile, TSMC's stock price fell below NT$1,000 on March 10 and closed at NT$863.00 on Thursday, as the U.S. dollar strengthened to above NT$33 before ending Thursday's trading in Taipei at NT$32.868.