SMIC International: Q1 yield fluctuations are due to sudden incidents during maintenance, and the need for validation of newly added equipment.

Zhao Haijun, Co-CEO of SMIC, stated today that after the performance meeting held in February of this year, on one hand, due to sudden issues during the annual maintenance of the company's operations, there have been impacts on the precision of product technology and yield rate. On the other hand, with a lot of new equipment introduced in the first quarter, during the equipment validation process, it was discovered that the performance and technology of the equipment need improvement, leading to fluctuations in product yield. These impacts are expected to continue for the next four to five months. As a singular event, there has not been any fundamental change for the company, but it will take some time to bring the delivery of wafers to the highest standard.