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Taiwan chip makers slam silent fab claims

We're just back to normal after months of over-production

Taiwan's semiconductor industry has denied that it will soon have chip fabrication plant standing idle, awaiting orders.

Instead, chip companies will simply not be "working as intensively" as before, according to industry spokespeople cited by Taiwan's business paper, the Commercial Times.

Taiwan's semiconductor makers were responding to a report, also in the CT, that November will see an easing in production thanks to a slow-down in demand.

According to the likes of the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC), not "working as intensively" means that all production lines will remain operational, churning out chips at full normal capacity.

They claim that marks a move back to normal operation after the last few months during which they were churning out semiconductors beyond normal capacity. Of course, even if they were running flat out previously, moving to 'normal' production is still a drop.

The drop amounts to between ten and 30 per cent of earlier, intensive production, CT sources claim.

However, that's perhaps to be expected, thanks to a traditional, seasonal slowdown during the last quarter of the year. Both TSMC and UMC said that, despite the dip, they still expect to post record sales for the period, largely thanks to running flat-out in September. For that month, they predict sales of NT$16.5 billion and NT$10 billion, respectively. ®

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