While Samsung Factory Stalls, TSMC Runs Ahead with 14% YoY Sales Increase in February

[Asia Economy Reporter Suyeon Woo] The global number one foundry company, Taiwan's TSMC, saw its February sales this year increase by 14% compared to the previous year. While Samsung Electronics' Austin foundry plant was halted due to a cold wave in the United States, competitor TSMC increased its operating rate and fully benefited from the improvement in the semiconductor market.

According to the industry on the 13th, TSMC's February sales this year were recorded at $3.76 billion (TWD 106.53 billion), up 14.1% from the same period last year. Compared to the previous month, sales decreased by about 16% due to fewer business days caused by the Lunar New Year holiday, but a clear improvement was confirmed compared to February last year.

The industry interprets the reason for the year-on-year increase in February sales as the steady maintenance of sales from advanced 'leading-edge processes' of 14nm or below. Earlier, TSMC announced its capital expenditure plan for this year at $25 billion to $28 billion, stating that more than 80% of it would be focused on advanced processes.

TSMC Monthly Sales / Data provided by Hana Financial Investment

Additionally, as shutdowns continued at factories located in the southern United States, including Samsung Electronics, NXP, and Infineon, the global semiconductor market's dependence on TSMC increased, positively impacting sales growth. In Japan, the Renesas factory temporarily stopped due to an earthquake, and TSMC's influence in the global foundry industry is gradually expanding. In a situation where semiconductor supply is already insufficient, such short-term shutdowns can cause significant shocks to the market.

There are also growing forecasts that semiconductor prices will rise due to foundry supply shortages. For companies like TSMC, which continue to increase their operating rates, this could be an opportunity to improve profitability. Kim Kyung-min, a researcher at Hana Financial Investment, analyzed, "Due to foundry supply shortages, an increase in ASP (average selling price) is expected, and the monthly sales outlook for TSMC is anticipated to exceed TWD 120 billion."

Meanwhile, competitor Samsung Electronics is facing unavoidable short-term losses due to the impact on its Austin plant in the United States. The Austin plant, which halted operations from the 16th of last month due to a power outage in Texas, had power restored in about a week but is still unable to operate fully. With the shutdown lasting about a month, the industry estimates sales losses of around 300 billion to 400 billion KRW.

Hwang Min-sung, a researcher at Samsung Securities, said, "Samsung Electronics' Austin plant began partial resumption in February, but full recovery is expected to take until May," adding, "It is estimated that wafer production decreased by about 100,000 units due to this power outage."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.