July 11, 2006 – Taiwan’s top two foundries said sales in June were up more than 30% from a year ago, and sales through the first half of 2006 are well ahead of last year’s levels.

UMC posted June revenues of $270.7 million, up 3.3% from May sales of $261.8 million, and a 32.9% increase vs. June 2005 sales of $203.7 million. Meanwhile, TSMC reported its sales in June rose about 2.0% sequentially to $904.0 million, and represented a 35.8% increase from a year ago.

For 2Q06, UMC’s revenues totaled $794.6 million, a 5.6% increase from 1Q06, and a 32.4% increase from 2Q05. TSMC’s 2Q06 sales were about $2.51 billion, up 5.1% from the previous quarter, and 38.8% from the same period a year ago.

Through the first half of 2006, UMC said sales were 26.2% higher than in 1H06, at roughly $1.55 billion, but were down about 2% from 2H05 levels of $1.59 billion. Meanwhile, TSMC said 1H06 sales were 38.8% ahead of last year’s pace at $4.89 billion, and were 5.4% ahead of sales in 2H05.