Photo: VCG
China's largest chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) said while releasing its third quarter financial results on Thursday that it is still full of confidence in the company's medium-to long-term development and it stressed the need for patience amid the US crackdown on China's chip sector and weak demand in the consumer market.
SMIC saw revenue of $1.907 billion in Q3, an increase of 0.2 percent from Q2 and up 34.7 percent year-on-year, the company said in the filing.
According to the results of the previous three quarters and the mid-point guidance for the fourth quarter, the company said it expected full year revenue to be around $7.3 billion, up around 34 percent year-on-year, and the gross margin is expected to be around 38 percent.
SMIC commented in the filing that with a slight decrease in shipments and a small increase in average selling prices due to product mix optimization, Q3 revenue remained flat compared to the previous quarter.
Externally, demand declined and internally, some facilities conducted annual maintenance. The monthly capacity increased by 32,000 8-inch equivalent wafers, and the capacity utilization was 92.1 percent, down 5 percentage points from the previous quarter.
Combining the above factors, the gross margin for the third quarter was 38.9 percent, down 0.5 percentage points sequentially, the company said.
SMIC said that revenue is expected to decline by 13 percent to 15 percent sequentially, with gross margin in the range of 30 percent to 32 percent in the fourth quarter due to weak demand in the mobile phone and consumer market, and the impact of the newly released US export control rules.
The US government in October released a broad set of technology export controls, including a ban on shipments to China of certain semiconductor chips made anywhere in the world with US equipment, further intensifying its so-called tech decoupling push and threatening to wreak havoc in the highly globalized chip supply chain.
SMIC said that according to a preliminary interpretation, the new rules have had an adverse impact on its production and operation.
"We have maintained close communications with suppliers, while the clarification of some definitions in the new rules and the assessment of the impact on the company are still in progress," the company said.
However, despite
the US crackdown on China's chip industry and multiple complex external factors, SMIC stressed that it still full of confidence in the company's medium-to long-term development.
"The development of the company is inseparable from seizing the momentum when the industry is booming, and even more inseparable from persistence and patience when the industry is going through a difficult time. We are still full of confidence in the company's medium-to long-term development," SMIC said.