World's largest chip maker sees demand surge TAIPEI, Taiwan — Riding stronger demand for semiconductors, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chip maker, saw its first-quarter profits surge more than 300 percent compared with the same period last year, the company said Tuesday.TSMC reported net income of NT$18.8 billion (US$566 million as of March 31, the last day of the period being reported), an increase of 331 percent from the same period last year, when TSMC reported net income of NT$4.4 billion, according to financial statements released by the company.Net sales during the first quarter rose 46.2 percent to NT$57.5 billion, up from NT$39.3 billion during the same period last year, TSMC said. On a sequential basis, net sales remained flat compared with the fourth quarter of 2003, TSMC said. However, net income showed an increase of 17 percent on a sequential basis, the company said. TSMC had been scheduled to release its first-quarter results on April 30 but the company’s auditors, Deloitte & Touche LLP, mistakenly uploaded part of TSMC’s first quarter financial statements three days early to the Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp.’s Market Observation Post System, which is used to disseminate information on listed companies, according to a statement from the company explaining why the financial statements were released early.TSMC will release the remaining materials related to its first-quarter results, including an analysis of the first-quarter results by the company’s management, on April 30, said J.H. Tzeng, a spokesman for the company. Technology Industry