Nvidia and Bitmain orders push TSMC's revenue back to over $3.43 billion in March

Tencent Technology News: According to industry sources, driven by 16nm and 12nm chip orders from Nvidia and Bitmain, TSMC's revenue in March will rebound strongly and return to above NT$100 billion (about US$3.43 billion).

According to sources, TSMC will continue to maintain revenue growth in the second quarter as shipments of 7nm chips delivered to Apple and other fabless customers will begin to increase by then. Qualcomm, HiSilicon and Xilinx are said to be TSMC's fabless customers, and they are all using TSMC's 7nm process.

TSMC's full-year revenue will grow by at least 10% in 2018, driven mainly by orders for advanced smartphone SoCs and cryptocurrency mining chips, the sources said.

TSMC plans to move its 7nm FinFET technology into mass production in June, the sources said. The process will start generating revenue in the second quarter, the sources added, and TSMC will take the entire 7nm chip process market.

In addition, according to sources, strong 16nm and 12nm chip orders from graphics card manufacturer Nvidia and professional mining ASIC supplier Bitmain have begun to support TSMC's sales performance since March. The strong demand for Bitcoin mining chips has made Bitmain one of TSMC's largest customers, the source added.

Bitmain is said to have placed an order for mining ASICs at TSMC’s 12-inch production plant in Nanjing, which was one of the main factors driving TSMC’s revenue growth in the second quarter of 2018. TSMC’s Nanjing production plant is expected to allocate a 16nm process production line with a monthly production capacity of 200,000 12-inch wafers for Bitmain’s order.

The source went on to say that Bitmain will also use the capacity of TSMC’s Nanjing production plant to produce Ethereum mining ASICs, with shipments expected to begin in the second quarter. Bitmain is expected to launch its Ethereum mining ASIC products as early as April.

At the same time, Nvidia has also increased orders for cryptocurrency mining chips, and TSMC is also one of the beneficiaries.

Sources said TSMC's 12nm chip orders from MediaTek are also increasing. MediaTek recently launched its Helio P60 mobile SoC chip with AI functions, which will be shipped in batches in April. The chip is said to have been used by OPPO and Meizu in their upcoming new smartphones.