Taipei, Oct. 26, 2012 (CENS)--Morris Chang, chairman of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. (TSMC), the leading contract IC maker in the world, pointed out yesterday (Oct. 25) that the global economy is still situated in a spot where “no light at the end of the tunnel is visible,” as the issue of the global economy has been complicated by political factors.
In contrast to the pessimism for the overall environment, Chang is still confident in the business prospects of TSMC, saying that the company’s growth potential will be increasingly disconnected with status of the semiconductor and even the contract IC industry, thanks its success in grasping the emerging market opportunities of mobile devices. He predicted that TSMC will rack up compound average growth rate of over 10% during 2013-2016.
Chang made the comments during an economic forum and the company’s investor conference yesterday.
Chang noted that among the world’s major economies, China’s economic growth rate will slow down to 6-7%, still comparatively good performance, while the U.S., European Union, and Japan are facing economic issues, complicated by political factors.
He explained that the U.S. will remove the tax incentives launched by former President Bush next year, which will drag down its GDP growth to the realm of negative growth. Meanwhile, Europe has been suffering from chronic economic ill for three years, according to Chang. The problem for Japan is even more complicated, due mainly to decline of its competitiveness. Taiwan’s economic performance will hinge on the status of the four major economies, the U.S., Europe, Japan, and China.
TSMC predicted that affected by the global economic situation, the global semiconductor industry will grow only 2% this year and 3% next year, while the global contract IC manufacturing industry will rack up 7% growth next year.
Chang stressed that TSMC will still enjoy vigorous growth in the next several years, thanks to its successful inroads into the market of portable electronic devices, such as smart phones and tablet PCs.
TSMC's revenue this year is expected to top NT$500 billion, up 17%, a record high. Chang predicted that induced by brisk business of mobile-computing applications, compound average growth rate of the company’s revenue will well exceed 10% during 2013-2016.
(by Philip Liu)
