According to Japanese media, the recovery trend of the world semiconductor industry is increasingly clear.  Taiwan Integrated Circuit Manufacturing Company (TSMC) released its final accounting data for the third quarter of 2019 on October 17, showing that its operating profit turned to increase after 5 quarters, up 13% year-on-year.  U.S. Apple's new smart phone and the semiconductor order for the next generation of communication standard 5G are in good shape. TSMC also raised its equipment investment expectation substantially this time.  The recovery trend will extend to the whole industry in the future.  The semiconductor industry, which has been in the doldrums for about a year and a half, has reached a turning point.

According to a report in Japan Economic News on October 18, TSMC President Wei Zhejia said at a press conference on October 17 that he did not expect such a huge demand for 5G semiconductors.

According to the report, TSMC's third-quarter sales amounted to NT$ 293 billion (68 billion RMB) and net profit was NT$ 101 billion, both of which achieved double-digit growth (about 13%) year on year.  Net profit growth far exceeded the average of Luftwaffe analysts' previous forecasts.

According to the report, the semiconductor market bottomed out in the first quarter and the trend of recovery became increasingly clear.  Wei Zhejia showed confidence in the future development prospects.  This is based on the fact that 5G will be officially launched worldwide starting from 2020, and the demand for semiconductors is expected to increase.

In fact, TSMC's factories that produce 5G semiconductors and other cutting-edge products are already in full operation and will increase production substantially in the future.  Compared with the data released in July, TSMC raised its equipment investment forecast for 2019 significantly this time.  Annual equipment investment is about 14 billion to 15 billion US dollars, a record high.

According to reports, orders for 5G base station semiconductors from Huawei and other companies have increased, and Huawei strongly demands TSMC to speed up the production of high-performance semiconductors that process huge communication data in base stations.  Orders for high-performance semiconductors for the 7nm process are already saturated.  Next year will see a boom in new 5G mobile phone products, and the demand for semiconductors is expected to further increase.

According to the report, TSMC manufactures semiconductors responsible for calculation and processing, which are applied to various devices such as Apple's smart phones and networks in the United States.  This kind of semiconductor is called "IT industry infrastructure". As a leading indicator of high-tech prospects, its trend has attracted the attention of domestic and foreign investors.