Foundries’ sales show chip market slowdown’s not yet over

Article By : Peter Clarke

TSMC's sales in April 2016 were NT$66.84 billion (about $1.99 billion) down 8.5 per cent on April 2015, while UMC's sales in April 2016 were NT$10.76 billion (about $330 million), down 17.3 per cent from April 2015.

The chip market slowdown that lasted through the winter is far from over.

Taiwanese foundries TSMC and UMC, two partial bellwethers of the semiconductor sector, announced that April 2016 sales that were significantly smaller than those they achieved in April 2015. This was after both were able to grow sales on an annual basis in March. TSMC and UMC are bellwethers partly because they are of significant size and publish sales results on a monthly basis.

TSMC's sales in April 2016 were NT$66.84 billion (about $1.99 billion) down 8.5 per cent on April 2015. TSMC's year-to-date sales for 2016 stand at NT$270.34 (about $8.28 billion), down 9.1 per cent compared to the same period in 2015.

UMC's sales in April 2016 were NT$10.76 billion (about $330 million), down 17.3 per cent from April 2015. UMC's sales for the first third of the year were NT$45.17 billion (about $1.38 billion), down 10.9 per cent on the same period in 2015.