Chinese high-tech manufacturer FA software Co, one of the suppliers of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), on Monday denied the rumor claiming that the SMIC's 12-inch wafer program with about 100 employees was suspended due to being unable to meet requirements, according to a report from sfccn.com.

A representative from FA software said SMIC's program was not halted and the company is still working on R&D for relevant software, while teams were shifted to remote work due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Remote work can ease the impact of coronavirus and also meet the demands from clients, the representative said, noting that all members of the R&D team are still working, the report stated.

According to a report from Sina Technology which claimed that SMIC's 12-inch wafer manufacturing plant in Beijing was suspended due to the supplier being unable to meet demand in providing domestically-made CIM (Computer Integrated Manufacturing) systems, and that the 100-person-R&D team had been dismissed.

SMIC on Monday said via investor communication platform that all the production and operation software used by the company was operating normally, in response to an investor's query about the rumors.

FA software Co was one of few domestic companies providing domestically-made semiconductor MES (Manufacturing Execution Systems), and was the first Chinese company to do relevant research.

Global Times