SMIC profit dives 80pc to US$93m

Staff reporter and Reuters

Chip giant Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (0981) saw its net profit tumble 80 percent to US$93.9 million (HK$730.5 million) in the third quarter compared to 12 months previously.

Revenue during the quarter declined 15 percent to US$1.62 billion from 2022, with gross margin coming at 19.8 percent - a decrease of 19.1 percentage points from the previous year.

The firm expects the fourth quarter's revenue to grow by 1 to 3 percent. But the gross margin will be weighed by the continuous depreciation pressure of the new capacity, which is expected to be in the range of 16 to 18 percent.

This came as Hua Hong Semiconductor (1347) said its third-quarter net profit slumped 87 percent to US$13.9 million.

Meanwhile, Nvidia is planning to release three new chips for China. They will be lower-performance ones to meet new US regulations after Washington blocked Nvidia from selling two high-end artificial intelligence chips and one of its top gaming chips to Chinese firms.

Intel is also shaping up to make a similar move.

Elsewhere, Apple supplier Sunny Optical (2382) delivered 118 million handset lens sets last month, a growth of 17.5 percent year on year.