TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC posted a 78% rise in fourth-quarter net profit on Thursday, as strong sales of advanced chips helped it defy a broader industry downturn that battered cheaper commodity chips.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker and a major Apple Inc supplier, saw net profit for the October-December period rise to T$295.9 billion ($9.72 billion) from T$166.2 billion a year earlier.
That compared with the T$289.44 billion average of 21 analyst estimates compiled by Refinitiv.
($1 = 30.4420 Taiwan dollars)
(Reporting by Yimou Lee and Sarah Wu; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Christopher Cushing)