TSMC, UMC tick lower after reporting Sep. sales

• TSMC (TSM -1.2%) reports September sales of NT$55.4B ($1.88B), +0.5% Q/Q and +27.6% Y/Y. That means the chip foundry's Q3 sales totaled NT$162.6B ($5.52B), in-line with a guidance range of NT$161B-NT$164B and slightly above a $5.49B consensus.
• Smaller foundry rival UMC (UMC -2.3%) has September sales of NT$10.85B ($368M), -1.4% M/M but +14.7% Y/Y. Q3 sales amounted to NT$33.4B ($1.13B), above a $1.05B consensus.
• TSMC has been taking share from rivals over the last two years thanks to strong mobile exposure and a lead in ramping 28nm chip production. But the company has begun seeing tougher 28nm price competition lately from Samsung and GlobalFoundries. UMC has also begun ramping 28nm output following delays.
• TSMC plans to begin volume production for its next-gen 20nm process early next year.