Taiwan's premiere foundry for hire, TSMC has posted its highest quarterly profit in two years. The company expects 2010 to be a record year, as the semi market is showing strong signs of recovery and demand is already picking up.

TSMC reported a net profit of $1.02 billion in Q4 2009, an impressive 260 percent jump year-on-year. Revenue was up 43 percent to just shy of $3 billion. TSMC Chairman Morris Chang said the results were much better than expected a year ago and that 2010 is going to be "historical."

More importantly, Chang is quite optimistic on the industry outlook in general. He expects global PC industry revenue to jump 14 percent, while semiconductor revenue should increase by 18 percent. The foundry, or chip manufacturing segment should grow by 29 percent.

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