CHINA's largest chipmaker SMIC (Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp) said the market for its staple mature-node chips could be in a state of oversupply in the second half of 2025, reports Reuters.

SMIC focuses on established chips for consumer electronics and home appliances which enjoyed a demand surge during stay-at-home policies of the Covid crisis, but which suffered as consumer replacement demand tailed off with people returning to offices.

Advanced chips such as those found in Huawei Technology's smartphones represent only a marginal portion of revenue. SMIC has never confirmed it produces Huawei chips.

"We face two major concerns for the second half of 2025. First, we expect order volume to decline as demand has been pulled forward to the first half," Co-CEO Zhao Haiku told analysts following the release of fourth-quarter earnings.