SMIC sees 2025 revenue above $9b on strong chip demand

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) expects full-year revenue to exceed US$9 billion, driven by strong demand and tight foundry capacity.

The company reported Q3 revenue of US$2.4 billion, up 7.8% from the previous quarter, with a gross margin of 22%.

Quarterly gross profit rose 17.7% year-on-year to US$522.8 million, and net profit attributable to SMIC increased 28.9% to US$191.8 million.

SMIC’s manufacturing capacity expanded to more than 1 million 8-inch-equivalent wafers per month in Q3, with a utilisation rate of 95.8%.

Mainland China accounted for 86% of Q3 sales, with the Americas and Eurasia making up 11% and 3%, respectively.

For Q4, SMIC forecasted revenue to be flat or up 2% quarter-on-quarter, with gross margin between 18% and 20%.

SMIC is China’s largest chip foundry and the only mainland fab processing 7-nanometre-grade chips.

🔗 Source: South China Morning Post

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

SMIC’s 7nm tied to Huawei; HBM could cap Huawei in 2025

In Q3, SMIC had 22% gross margin and 95.8% utilization, with TD Cowen estimating Huawei bought about 15,000 wafers per month out of roughly 20,000 wspm of 7nm capacity 1.
Ascend 910C output faces a High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) shortage, as China’s stockpile of 13 million stacks could run out by year-end, which would cap 2025 advanced packaging that pairs HBM with processor dies despite available die capacity 2.
SMIC 7nm yields run about 60–70% using multiple-patterning Deep Ultraviolet (DUV) rather than Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV), which extends cycle time and trails Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) early 7nm at 76% 1 3.
SMIC guides Q4 gross margin of 18–20%, and SemiAnalysis expects advanced-node (7nm and below) capacity to rise from about 45,000 wspm by end-2025 to about 80,000 wspm by 2027 2.

Secure 28nm+ outside China

Huawei allocation at 7nm likely tightens mature-node supply (28nm and above) for other customers.
United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) starts volume output in 2026 at a new Singapore fab for 22nm and 28nm, creating openings 4.
Fabless chip companies (designers that outsource manufacturing) targeting automotive electronics, Internet of Things (IoT) devices or power management chips should start wafer allocation talks now with non-China foundries such as UMC adding 22/28nm capacity for 2026 4.
Mature nodes’ combined revenue share is set to fall from 54% in 2021 to 36% in 2025, with revenue roughly flat, while 28nm grows at a 5% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) 5.