Seasonal weakness was blamed for disappointing results amongst Taiwan’s chip manufacturers.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) said that a slowdown in orders for the latest iPhone device was the main reason why sales in November declined sequentially. The total of NT$72.3 billion ($2.3 billion) was 10.5% lower than October, though this was 63% higher than November 2013 and brought sales for the year to date to NT$693.3 billion ($22.2 billion), 26.7% higher year on year.
Sales were also down at rival MediaTek, which reported a 22% fall from October’s record month at NT$16.8 billion ($538.5 million). Last month’s result took sales for January to November to NT$196 billion ($6.3 billion), 59.4% ahead of the same period of 2013,
United Microelectronics (UMC) saw sales fall 14.5% MoM in November to NT$11.5 billion ($368.6 million), though this was 11.5% higher than October 2014. Sales from January to November reached NT$127.8 billion ($4.1 billion), 12.2% higher than the corresponding period of 2013.
