Apr. 27, 2012 (China Knowledge) - Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co or TSMC, the world's largest contract chip maker by revenue, announced yesterday that its net profit fell 7.7% year on year to NT$33.47 billion in the first quarter of this year.

The drop in Q1 net profit was narrowed from a 35% decline in the third quarter and a 22% decrease in the fourth quarter, due to improved economic conditions in the U.S. and China as well as more-than-expected chip orders.

The company's revenue, about one third of which comes from cell phone chip business, was NT$105.51 billion in the first quarter, up 0.1% from NT$105.38 billion in the corresponding period of 2011.

Morris Chang, chairman and CEO of TSMC, expected the firm's earnings to experience a positive growth in the third quarter.