Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, China’s biggest chipmaker, warned on Thursday that its business was suffering delays and uncertainty due to US export restrictions introduced in September, even as it reported a 32% rise in third-quarter revenue to $1.08 billion, reported the Financial Times.
SMIC, regarded as China’s most promising hope for breaking the country’s dependence on foreign manufacturers, acknowledged it was facing “extended or uncertain delivery lead times” for some US equipment as well as logistics delays due to the restrictions.
As a result of the delays, the chipmaker said it would cut its capital expenditure for the year by 12% to $5.9 billion from $6.7 billion, even as its revenue for the third quarter beat forecasts. SMIC has benefited from stockpiling by Huawei, another large Chinese technology champion and SMIC customer affected by US sanctions.