China's SMIC vows to advance technology despite flagging profits

TAIPEI, Feb. 09, 2018 – 

China's homegrown contract chipmaker, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Co., on Friday vowed to play catch-up in its chip technologies with the help of government support, despite deteriorating profits and a slowing mobile market.

Co-chief Executive Liang Mong-song, brought in by SMIC last October from Samsung Electronics, said he would accelerate development of advanced chip technologies to capture future growth.

"We have not captured the great opportunity in China because of lack of technology readiness," he said in an earnings teleconference. "In order to sustain growth in the long run, we must drive technology development."