Taiwan's top-three IC foundries will see their combined revenues increase 38.6% from a year earlier in the first quarter of 2015, according to Digitimes Research.
Combined revenues for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), United Microelectronics (UMC) and Vanguard International Semiconductor (VIS) totaled US$8.62 billion in the fourth quarter of 2014, rising 3.4% sequentially, said Digitimes Research. During the quarter, TSMC's 20nm chip sales enjoyed a significant increase.
TSMC saw sales generated from 20nm process technology jump to US$1.52 billion in the fourth quarter from US$630 million in the third, Digitimes Research noted. The foundry moved its 20nm node technology to commercial production in the third quarter of 2014.
Combined revenues at Taiwan's top-three IC foundries are forecast to reach US$8.49 billion in the first quarter of 2015, down a slight 1.5% on quarter, Digitimes Research said. The sequential drop would be caused by inventory adjustments at Qualcomm, as well as IDM customers including TI, Infineon and NXP, Digitimes Research indicated.
