The US is expanding its investigation into chip manufacturer Applied Materials, possibly into shipments to China’s SMIC

Applied Materials announced Thursday that it received another subpoena from the U.S. Department of Commerce in May as regulators seek more information about shipments to China.

The SMIC headquarters in Shanghai, China. Photo: Bloomberg

Applied Materials, which supplies chipmaking tools to Samsung Electronics and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), reported that 43 percent of its total sales in the second quarter came from China.

Applied Materials is under investigation by the Justice Department for sending equipment to SMIC through South Korea without export licenses, sources told Reuters in November. Hundreds of millions of dollars in equipment are involved, one of the people said at the time.

The company repeatedly shipped equipment from its factory in Gloucester, Massachusetts, to a subsidiary in South Korea and then to SMIC, the people familiar with the investigation said in November.

The US is expanding its investigation into chip manufacturer Applied Materials, possibly into shipments to China’s SMIC

Related Posts