China's largest chipmaker SMIC's Q3 net down 80%; says market stabilising

China’s SMIC on Friday shrugged off a more than 70 per cent drop in net third-quarter profit, saying it expected Chinese semiconductor demand to stabilise soon, and increased its annual capital expenditure forecast to about $7.5 billion. Shares in the company slumped by over 7 per cent on its earn­ings, and those of smaller peer Hua Hong Semico­nductor fell by more than 10 per cent after anal­ysts said Hua Hong’s third-quarter results missed expectations.

Their results echoed others such as Taiwan’s TSMC and Germany’s Siltronic, who have faced similar earnings pressure from a slowdown in the semico­nductor industry.
 

High interest rates and persistent inflation have forced businesses to tighten their tech budgets, while US restrictions on Chinese chip companies are weighing on the sector.  

Huawei’s chipmaker warns about chip glut

Huawei chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International warned that a hoped-for smartphone market recovery is another year out, and that geopolitical tensions are fomenting a serious glut in global chipm­aking capacity. China’s largest chipmaker on Thursday reported its third consecutive fall in revenue. 

Nvidia to release 3 new chips for China

Nvidia plans to release new artificial intell­igence (AI) chips for the Chinese market less than a month after US officials tighte­ned rules on selling high-end AI chips to China. The chip industry newsletter Se­m­i­Analysis said that these chips are called the HGX H20, L20 PCIe and L2 PCIe and that Nvidia could announce them on November.

Japan to spend $13 bn on chip industry support 

Japan's government will allocate roughly 2 trillion yen ($13 billion) to support efforts to boost its chip industry, marking the latest move by the Asian nation to reclaim its past glory in the critical sector. The country is a leading provider of chipmaking tools and materials that lost its edge in manufacturing in recent decades and is now providing subsidies to chipmakers to build capacity. Some of the funds, which will be earmarked thro­ugh a supplementary budget for this fiscal year, are expected to be used to support Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC and chip foundry venture Rapidus, which aims to manufacture cutting-edge chips in Hokkaido.