Tech war: China’s top foundry SMIC reports revenue growth in 2024, but net profits plunge

Full-year revenue grew 27 per cent to US$8 billion but net profit plunged 45.4 per cent to US$493 million

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Exterior view of SMIC’s facilities in Pudong district, Shanghai on March 15, 2024. Photo: AFP

Published: 3:30pm, 28 Mar 2025

China’s top foundry Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) said its revenues in 2024 reached an all-time high, but net profit almost halved from a year earlier, an indication of the increasing competition in legacy chip production on the mainland.

In its annual report filed to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Thursday, the company said full-year revenue grew 27 per cent to US$8 billion but net profit plunged 45.4 per cent to US$493 million. Its shares lost 3.4 per cent on Friday morning.

Meanwhile, China’s No 2 wafer fab, Hua Hong Semiconductor, said in its annual report on Thursday that 2024 revenue fell 12.3 per cent year on year to US$2 billion, with profit sliding 79.2 per cent to US$58 million. Hua Hong’s stock in Hong Kong lost 3.3 per cent in the morning session.

The sluggish profit performance of China’s top two fabs comes as competition in the domestic market has intensified, while US export controls have made it harder for SMIC to move up to more lucrative advanced node production.

The consumer electronics segment was SMIC’s top customer for wafer sales. Photo: Digitimes

In comparison, the world’s top foundry, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), said earlier that its net profit for 2024 surged nearly 40 per cent from a year earlier to hit an all-time high of US$35 billion, or over 70 times that of SMIC, even though TSMC’s revenue was about 12 times SMIC’s.