Semiconductor Manufacturing International, China's top contract chip maker, posted a wider quarterly loss as it winds down production of memory chips whose prices have been battered, a Reuters report said.

Shanghai-based SMIC posted a loss of $45.6 million for the second quarter, compared with a loss of $2.05 million a year earlier, the Reuters report said.

The loss was $0.012 per American Depositary Share, compared with a loss of about $0.01 a year earlier.

The results were better than expected. Six analysts polled by Reuters Estimates had forecast, on average, a loss of $65.3 million.

Revenue declined 8.5% to $342.9 million.

The company has said it decided in the first quarter to exit the commodity dynamic random access memory business, which has been pummeled by sharp price declines in the global computer memory chip market, the Reuters report further said.

SMIC, which has been posting net losses for much of the past three years, is ramping up production of higher-end logic and flash memory chips, used in products such as digital cameras and portable music players.

Source:telecomasia.net