The company is the world's No.1 pure silicon foundry. Its executives said at an institutional investor conference held in the 
first quarter this year that the silicon-foundry sector would underperform the average of the semiconductor industry during recession and outperform the average when the industry starts picking up. His company, he reported, would outdo the average of the foundry industry.

Chang noted that his company's operation would grow at a faster pace than that of the semiconductor industry as a whole this year, suggesting global semiconductor industry has emerged from the worst time of the recession.

Nevertheless, the company's consolidated revenue of NT$29.8 billion (US$903 million at US$1:NT$33) for August represented a 4.3% contraction from a month earlier and unexpectedly capped five consecutive months of growth trend. In response to questions about the sudden recession, Chang said any survey of his company's performance should be done on a quarterly basis instead of a monthly basis.

Industry watchers pointed out that in spite of the August slump, the company is still likely to realize the goal of raking in revenue of NT$88-90 billion (US$2.6-2.7 billion) throughout this quarter in consideration of the consolidated revenue of NT$61 billion (US$1.8 billion) it had throughout July-August period.

Foreign institutional investors estimate 40/45nm process to contribute 12% of the company's 2010 revenue, boosting gross margin rate to 46.3%, higher than the forecast 42.9% for this year.