Taiwan's two top chipmakers yesterday reported a jump in revenue of nearly 50 percent in February compared to the same month last year - indicating that the semiconductor sector's recovery is still on track.

　　Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, the world's biggest producer of made-to-order chips, said its February revenue rose 49 percent year-on-year.

　　United Microelectronics Corp, the world's No. 2 contract maker of chips, reported a rise of 48 percent.

　　Both companies supply chips to several of the biggest firms in the high-tech sector, and the semiconductors are used in a variety of products, like computers, mobile phones and digital cameras. The chipmakers' long list of key customers and products make them bellwethers for the tech sector.

　　Taiwan Semiconductor posted revenue of 18.39 billion New Taiwan dollars (US$551.92 million) in February, up from NT$12.35 billion during the same month last year, the firm said. The figure was down 4 percent from January of this year.

　　United Microelectronics reported that February revenue rose to NT$8.03 billion from NT$5.44 billion a year earlier.

　　The February figure was down 3 percent compared to January, but the company didn't give a reason for the decline.

　　The company said revenue for the first two months of 2004 totaled NT$16.32 billion, up 51 percent from NT$10.84 billion a year earlier.

　　Both companies specialize in running chip plants - that produce custom-made chips for companies that can't afford building their own plant.

　　(The Associated Press)