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Semiconductors
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China’s semiconductor output decline slows in November, but still lags levels seen before new US export controls

  • Output of integrated circuits fell 15 per cent last month to 26 billion units, compared with a 26.7 per cent plunge in October
  • Chip output in November was still lower than the 27.5 billion units produced in May during Shanghai’s two-month Covid-19 lockdown

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A researcher plants a semiconductor on an interface board. Photo: Reuters
Ann Caoin Shanghai

China’s integrated circuit (IC) output in November dropped 15.2 per cent from a year ago, as the country’s semiconductor industry grappled with weak demand and the latest US trade sanctions.

While IC production last month fell to 26 billion units, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Thursday, it marked the slowest year-on-year decline in the past five months.

The country’s IC output plunged 26.7 per cent in October from a year earlier, marking the largest single-month decline since the data became available in 1997, and surpassing the previous record decline of 24.7 per cent in August.

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In the first 11 months of 2022, China’s IC output reached 295.8 billion units, down 12 per cent from the same period last year, NBS data showed.

The slower decline in chip output last month came after the country posted a 1.4 per cent month-on-month decline in chip imports to 40.5 billion units, also marking an improvement from October when the numbers tumbled 13.7 per cent from the previous month.

China has been doubling down on its drive to achieve semiconductor self-sufficiency by pledging state support and pumping investments into the domestic industry, in response to escalating US trade restrictions in recent months.

Washington in October expanded the scope of its hi-tech export controls targeting chip makers in mainland China, following the Biden administration’s enactment of the Chips and Science Act in August to boost American production of ICs.

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