TOKYO -- Asian semiconductor producers, along with global peers, hit a wall in the final quarter of 2018 as earnings sank amid slowing smartphone sales and flagging demand for new data centers.
Net profit at eight major players -- Samsung and SK Hynix of South Korea and Japan's Renesas Electronics, as well as Intel, Texas Instruments, Qualcomm, NXP Semiconductors and Infineon Technologies -- slowed to $18.6 billion for the October-December period, sliding roughly 30% from $25.4 billion in the third quarter of 2018. All except Qualcomm and Infineon suffered either a loss or a profit decline.
