In the 2008 Technology Forum held by TSMC yesterday (27th), Jason Chen, vice GM of the business and marketing department, indicated that as ASP for its products declined currently, and the profit growth has started to bear some pressure, the company plans to raise its foundry wafer prices.

Currently, the time-table for the rise of price and the rising extent hasn’t been set. It is quite possible that the price adjust will start from higher level products.

Jason Chen said that at present TSMC is facing with structural pressures to gain more profit, and inflation as well as high oil price also add stress to the company. But he emphasized that the foreground for semiconductor industry is still bright as demand from emerging PC market and mobile devices is increasing day by day. He predicted that the industry will be more promising this year than in 2007.

Analyst indicated that if TSMC improves its service further and provides higer-efficiency chips, the acceptance degree for the customers toward the rise of the price will be higher.