UPDATE 1-Sales of China's semiconductor industry up 17.8% y/y in 2020 -industry body

Reuters · 03/17/2021 06:39
UPDATE 1-Sales of China's semiconductor industry up 17.8% y/y in 2020 -industry body

Adds comment, background

- Sales of the semiconductor industry in China grew 17.8% in 2020 from a year earlier to 891 billion yuan ($137 billion), Zhou Zixue, a senior official of the China Semiconductor Industry Association (CSIA), said on Wednesday.

The current global chip supply shortage is unprecedented, Zhou, an industry veteran who is chairman of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) 0981.HK, said in remarks at SEMICON China.

While China is the world's largest buyer of semiconductors, its domestic production of the chips is marginal.

China's need to cut dependence on overseas chip companies became evident last year when U.S. sanctions on Shenzhen-based hardware maker Huawei Technologies Co Ltd HWT.UL prevented it from sourcing components, crippling a once-booming smartphone business. nL4N2L92EV

($1=6.4985 Chinese yuan renminbi)


(Reporting by Josh Horwitz; Writing by Yilei Sun; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Clarence Fernandez)

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