"The outlook for Taiwan's semiconductor industry is very good," Abraham Leu, research vice-president of Prudential Securities Taiwan, told Reuters Television.

"The semiconductor industry cycle just bottomed out early last year, and we are now in the middle of a booming. We can enjoy at least two more years of prosperous growth."

"With capacity utilisation rate at 100 per cent, I estimate that Taiwan semiconductor makers can enjoy a profit margin of 45 to 48 per cent, which is very good." Most of Taiwan's micro-chip makers reported year-on-year sales growth of more than 50 per cent in March, indicating strong demand for, among others, made-to-order foundry chips and DRAM chips. World microchip foundry leader Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) surged T$10 to T$210 on Monday.