Pure-play foundry Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) will soon kick off commercial production for Qualcomm's Snapdragon 855 processor designed for high-end smartphones, according to industry sources.

The Snapdragon 855 series is Qualcomm's first 7nm SoC that will power a number of new premium Android devices slated for launch in the second quarter of 2019, the sources indicated.

TSMC is expected to see orders placed for Qualcomm's 7nm chips offset weakness in orders for the iPhone chips, said the sources, adding that the pure-play foundry will likely post a smaller sequential decrease in revenues for the second quarter compared to that in the prior quarter.

TSMC will see its revenues pick up substantially starting July, when shipments for the next-generation iPhone series kick off, the sources noted.

TSMC has estimated first-quarter revenues at between US$7.3 billion and US$7.4 billion, down about 14% compared to the same period in 2018 when the pure-play foundry enjoyed a surge in orders for crypto mining ASICs. The guidance also represents an around 22% sequential decline compared to the prior quarter.

TSMC expects 2019 to be "a slow year" for the foundry segment and also the overall semiconductor market. Nevertheless, the competitiveness of its 7nm node manufacturing will allow the company to still outperform the industry average, according to the world's largest contract chipmaker.