Taiwan's March AI surge

Taiwan’s listed artificial intelligence hardware suppliers posted $69.7 billion in March revenue, up 63% from a year earlier. (digitimes.com) DigiTimes said the March total covered 13 supply-chain segments, from chipmaking and advanced packaging to server assembly, boards, parts and distribution. It called the figure the clearest one-month read yet on where global artificial intelligence infrastructure spending is landing. (digitimes.com) The jump showed up in the biggest names first. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. said March revenue reached NT$415.19 billion, up 45.2% from March 2025, while first-quarter revenue rose 35.1% to NT$1.134 trillion. (pr.tsmc.com) Server builders also reported unusually large March numbers. Foxconn said first-quarter revenue climbed 29.7% year over year to NT$2.13 trillion, helped by strong artificial intelligence server demand, and March revenue rose 45.6% to a record NT$803.7 billion. (channelnewsasia.com) Quanta and Wistron, two of the main companies that assemble the server boxes used in data centers, also posted record March sales. TVBS World reported Quanta reached NT$362.8 billion for the month, up 88.4% year over year, while Wistron hit NT$333.0 billion, up 117.7%. (t.media) Inventec, another Taiwan contract manufacturer, said March revenue rose to NT$87.563 billion, up 41.1% from a year earlier and 71.9% from February, with DigiTimes tying the gain to artificial intelligence server orders and shipments. (digitimes.com) This is what an artificial intelligence buildout looks like in company filings. Cloud providers buy chips, memory, circuit boards, cooling gear and fully assembled server racks, and Taiwan sits in the middle of each step. (digitimes.com) The March spike also came after February’s shorter working month around Lunar New Year, which can compress shipments and make March rebounds look sharper. DigiTimes said the breadth of the gains across nearly every segment still pointed to demand that went beyond a calendar effect. (digitimes.com) Company executives are not treating the demand as a one-month burst. In March, Wistron chairman Simon Lin said major customers had not slowed artificial intelligence infrastructure spending and forecast the company’s 2026 revenue would grow by a high double-digit percentage. (taipeitimes.com) Foxconn added a warning alongside its record quarter. The company said it expected second-quarter growth from the first quarter but also pointed to a “volatile global political and economic situation,” even as artificial intelligence rack demand stayed strong. (channelnewsasia.com) March did not settle the question of how long this spending wave lasts. It did show that, in one month of reported sales, the money for artificial intelligence data centers is still moving through Taiwan faster than almost anywhere else. (digitimes.com)