Vimicro may break even this year

Chinese chipmaker Vimicro International (VIMC:NASDAQ) may break even this year thanks to increasing domestic sales after two consecutive years of losses, Bloomberg reported citing comments by Vimicro Chairman John Deng. The company’s China sales have grown to half of total revenue from only 10-20% five years ago, he said, and credited lower taxes and government subsidies for spurring consumer spending for the growth. Vimicro sells semiconductors for use in personal computer and mobile devices to companies including Lenovo (0922:HK), Huawei Technologies and ZTE (0763:HK). The company recently bought the video surveillance business of Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell in cooperation with the municipal government of Tianjin.