TSMC Says Crypto Mining Demand Will Fall in Q3

Semiconductor manufacturing giant TSMC said Thursday that it expects demand for cryptocurrency mining-related products to cool off during the third quarter of this year.

The company – which manufactures components for bitcoin mining chip makers, including Bitmain – made the prediction as it announced its second-quarter results, reporting $7.85 billion in revenue. That figure represents a decline of 7.2 percent from the previous quarter but an increase of 11.2 percent compared to the same period in 2017.

In statements, an official from the company quarter cited "strong" demand from cryptocurrency miners, but suggested that TSMC sees this state of affairs changing in the months ahead.

"Our second quarter business was mainly impacted by the mobile product seasonality, while the continuing strong demand from cryptocurrency mining and a more favorable currency exchange rate moderated the mobile softness," Lora Ho, senior vice president and chief financial officer, was quoted as saying.

She added:

"Moving into third quarter 2018, we anticipate our business will benefit from new product launches using TSMC 7-nanometer technology while cryptocurrency mining demand will decrease from second quarter."

It's a notable statement, given that in January, TSMC said it expected robust demand to continue. Indeed, in April, the company reported that cryptocurrency mining-related services had boosted its revenues to record highs.

"We see very strong demand in the first quarter from cryptocurrencies. During the second quarter, while we do see some weakness in the 28mm chip, the [demand for] the rest of the technology is still very strong on cryptocurrency," Mark Liu, president and co-CEO, said at the time.

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