Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s fourth-quarter revenue was better than estimates as demand from artificial intelligence players helped offset sagging smartphone and laptop chip sales.
Hsinchu-based TSMC, the main chipmaker to Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp, reported December sales of NT$176.3 billion ($5.7 billion), completing a NT$625.5 billion quarter. That matched earnings from the same period a year earlier, which was among TSMC’s highest quarterly results. The average analyst estimate for sales over the last three months was NT$616.2 billion.
Over the full course of 2023, a year where TSMC moderated its capital expenditure plans and signaled the trough in consumer electronics demand had been reached in the summer, revenue decreased 4.5% to NT$2.16 trillion.
Electronics makers and chip suppliers started last year struggling to work through a glut of unsold inventory, after they stockpiled during the pandemic’s semiconductor shortage. That was largely in the rear view mirror by the middle of the year, executives including Chief Executive Officer C. C. Wei said during TSMC’s earnings calls. The company has seen its high-performance computing business boosted by demand for Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices Inc.’s AI chips.
Apple Inc., arguably TSMC’s most important customer, has faced headwinds with its latest iPhone generation, especially in the world’s biggest mobile market of China. Several analysts have downgraded Apple this year on expectations of soft demand, and this week Jefferies said the iPhone sales slump in China is likely to deepen. The US company has also been hit by an expanded ban by Chinese agencies and state-owned companies ordering staff to keep iPhones and other foreign devices away from work premises.
