CSMC Technologies Corp, a China-based supplier of semiconductors for watches and consumer electronics, reported a first-half loss on lower sales and falling prices as customers reduced inventories.
The net loss at CSMC, whose customers include Fujitsu Ltd and Texas Instruments Inc, was US$6 million, or 0.23 cent a share, compared with a restated profit of US$3.8 million, or 0.2 cent, a year earlier, CSMC said. Sales at the Wuxi, Jiangsu Province-based company fell 6 percent to US$32.5 million.
CSMC, 4.6 percent owned by Singapore-listed Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd, and rivals such as China's Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp are counting on demand in the second half to rebound. The new US school year and the Christmas shopping season may bolster demand for consumer electronics.
"We are optimistic as the industry is showing signs of recovery in the current quarter," Frank Lai, chief financial officer, said in Hong Kong.
During the first half, CSMC said average selling prices fell to US$169 from US$178 a year earlier. Monthly production capacity rose to 59,000 wafers, which are cut into chips that are used in cellular phones to personal computers. That more than doubled from 28,000 units a year earlier.
"The industry downtrend came at the height of the group's capacity expansion program and the higher depreciation and fall in utilization contributed to the loss," he said.
In the first half, the firm used 56 percent of capacity, compared with 88 percent a year earlier.