Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) registered a third consecutive fall in net profit in the final three months of 2023, with the contract chipmaker omitting to provide guidance for the current quarter and the full year.

Net income dropped 19.3 per cent year-on-year to TWD238.7 billion ($7.6 billion), while total revenue was flat at TWD625.5 billion.

Unlike Q4 2023, the company did not provide commentary on its recent performance or a guidance.

Shipments of 3nm chips comprised 15 per cent of total wafer revenue; 5nm 35 per cent, up from 32 per cent in Q4 2022; and 7nm 17 per cent compared with 22 per cent.

Full-year sales fell 4.5 per cent to TWD2.2 trillion, matching a forecast issued in Q2 2023 by CEO CC Wei for a low- to mid-single-digit decline.

Wei later predicted sales would rebound in Q4 2023 after falling 10.8 per cent to TWD546.7 billion in the third quarter.

While global smartphone shipments grew in Q4 2023, hopes of a wider recovery have been stymied by poor results from Samsung and contract manufacture Foxconn, along with downbeat demand forecasts by industry analysts.

TSMC makes chips for Apple, Broadcom, MediaTek, Qualcomm, Nvidia and others.