SMIC will mass-produce the 28nm HKC+ process in the second half of 2018, and begin trial production of the 14nm FinFET process in the first half of 2019, and use this to enter...

Wafer manufacturing is currently an important part of the upper-middle-chip design process, and it has been in a semi-monopolistic competitive landscape internationally. The wafer process of international giants such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Samsung, and Intel has made them an important source of scientific and technological strength. A few days ago, SMIC reported the good news of Chinese wafers.

SMIC will mass-produce the 28nm HKC+ process in the second half of 2018, and begin trial production of the 14nm FinFET process in the first half of 2019, and will use it to enter the AI chip field.

The current joint CEO of SMIC, Liang Mengsong, said that the 28nm process will account for 5-10% of SMIC's shipments in 2018, with the new 28nm HKC accounting for nearly 28nm Poly-SiON.

In the fourth quarter of 2017, SMIC's 200 mm wafer fab in Shenzhen had a capacity of 442,750 wafers. It increased to 447,750 in the first quarter of 2018, and the average capacity utilization rate also increased to 88.3%.

At the same time, demand from power management ICs is also increasing, 200-mm wafer fabs are producing at full capacity, and high-voltage BCD processes are turning to their 300-mm wafer fabs.

In 2017, SMIC’s revenue was US$3.101 billion, a year-on-year increase of 6.4%, gross profit margin was 23.9%, a year-on-year decrease of 5.3 percentage points, and net profit was US$1.081 billion, a year-on-year increase of 10.6%.

Among them, the 28nm process contributed a 4.4-fold increase in revenue, creating a new high, with an overall share of 8.0%.

SMIC's co-CEO Zhao Haijun disclosed that in the first quarter of 2018, SMIC’s revenue was US$831 million, gross margin was 26.5%, R&D investment was US$123 million, and second quarter revenue was expected to grow by 7-9% QoQ, gross margin 23-25%. .

SMIC’s 40% of its revenue comes from mainland China. Liang Mengsong previously served as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd., and is known as the promoter that can make great progress for SMIC.