ASIC services show uneven gains
ASIC design‑service firms posted sharply uneven first‑quarter results, suggesting mere ‘AI exposure’ didn’t guarantee revenue gains. DigiTimes notes performance depended on customer mix and where a firm sits in the value chain, creating pockets of underperformance amid the broader market expansion. (digitimes.com)
Taiwan’s chip-design contractors did not share the artificial intelligence boom evenly in the first quarter of 2026. Global Unichip grew fast, while Faraday and Alchip came into the year from much weaker bases. (digitimes.com) These companies help customers build application-specific integrated circuits, or custom chips, that are tailored for one job instead of sold as general-purpose processors. In Taiwan, that business spans front-end design work, reusable chip blocks called silicon intellectual property, and turnkey services that carry a design toward manufacturing. (guc-asic.com) (faraday-tech.com) (m31tech.com) Global Unichip, the custom-chip arm backed by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., reported March revenue of NT$3.861 billion, up 33.5% from a year earlier. Its first-quarter revenue reached NT$11.448 billion, up 63.0% year over year. (guc-asic.com) Faraday Technology moved the other way. Its monthly sales page shows first-quarter 2026 revenue of NT$2.589 billion, down 65.2% from a year earlier, after March revenue of NT$1.067 billion fell 69.4%. (faraday-tech.com) Alchip Technologies entered 2026 after a sharp 2025 slowdown tied to a product transition. In its March 6 investor presentation, the company said 2025 revenue fell 39% to US$991.9 million, and management said first-quarter 2026 revenue would be roughly in line with the weak fourth quarter before a stronger second-half ramp. (alchip.com) (finance.biggo.com) The split shows how the custom-chip supply chain works. A company can have artificial-intelligence customers and still post weak sales if its projects are still in design, if production has not started, or if revenue is concentrated in a small number of programs. (digitimes.com) (alchip.com) That pattern stands out because the broader manufacturing backdrop stayed strong. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. said March revenue rose 45.2% year over year and first-quarter revenue rose 35.1% to NT$1.134 trillion. (pr.tsmc.com) M31 Technology adds another piece of the picture because it sells silicon intellectual property, the prebuilt circuit blocks customers license before a chip is taped out. M31 said in August 2025 that foundry demand was strong, but exchange losses and higher electronic design automation software costs hurt profitability even as revenue rose. (m31tech.com) DigiTimes said first-quarter results depended on customer mix and where each company sat in the value chain, not on “artificial intelligence exposure” alone. The next test comes as March revenue reports give way to full first-quarter earnings calls, where investors will look for when design wins turn into production sales. (digitimes.com) (investor.tsmc.com)
