Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, expects a sharp downturn in revenue growth in the first three months of 2019, in the latest sign of slowing smartphone demand and as a weak global economic outlook hits electronics suppliers.

TSMC, which supplies core processor chips for the newest Apple and Huawei smartphones, has forecast first-quarter revenue of between $7.3bn and $7.4bn. That would mark a 22 per cent reduction from $9.4bn in the last three months of 2018 and a double-digit percentage drop from $8.5bn in the first quarter of 2018.

Earlier this month, Apple spooked investors with a rare warning over its fourth-quarter earnings. Tim Cook, the iPhone maker’s chief executive, blamed economic weakness in China.