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18 min ago 2 min read
Net profits for Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) and Hua Hong boomed in Q2, capitalising on rising domestic AI chips demand.
SMIC, China’s largest foundry, and Hua Hung profits shot up 261.7% and 385.9% year-on-year, to $479.2m and $38.6m respectively. SMIC revenues rose 36% year-on-year to $3bn.
The results underline how local foundries are aggressively running their fabrication plants at full capacity to meet domestic needs, as tech giants and start-ups scramble for computing power to train their large models and power AI applications.
In a market statement, SMIC said looking ahead to the second half of this year, the industrial momentum and spillover effects generated by AI will persist, driving broad based demand for integrated circuit manufacturing.
“The company will flexibly allocate existing capacity and accelerate the qualification of newly added capacity to help ease supply constraints across the industry chain. Overall, the company maintains an optimistic outlook on industry trends and development,” it said.
Industrial gas major Linde expects electronics to remain , supported by continued semiconductor investment and growing AI-related demand for industrial gases.
But while AI is driving a surge in semiconductor manufacturing, the same growth is increasing specialty gas consumption and making decarbonisation much more challenging.
Speaking during a gasworld webinar, Mike Walden, Vice President of Critical Materials Information at TechInsights, said the rapid expansion of AI-driven semiconductor manufacturing is and advanced materials as chipmakers adopt ever-more complex manufacturing processes.
