S&P Global Ratings has put Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (0981) into its negative credit watch list, although the Chinese chipmaker was reported to have purchased raw materials for more than a year's need.
S&P said SMIC is facing a surging supply-chain risk, and there are uncertainties after the United States placed export restrictions on its suppliers in the country. The rating agency also expects SMIC will gain more financial and technical support from the Chinese government.
SMIC has already increased sourcing from suppliers in the US, Europe and Japan, covering equipment for key production processes such as etching, lithography and wafer cleaning, Nikkei Asia reported.
Meanwhile, major iPhone assemblers for Apple were among 16 firms that won approval to manufacture products in India under a plan aimed at attracting investment of over 10.5 trillion rupees (HK$1.11 trillion) for mobile-phone production in the next five years.
Apple's primary suppliers - Foxconn Technology, Wistron, Pegatron and Samsung Electronics - were among a list of firms that were cleared by India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. Following clashes with China along its disputed Himalayan border earlier this year, New Delhi is seeking to woo firms looking to diversify their manufacturing bases away from China,.
The news came as global smartphone output shrank 20.4 percent year-on-year in the second quarter to 294 million units, according to mainland media reports.
