(JW Insights) Oct 19 -- American chip tool maker Lam Research said it sees no major impact from the new U.S. export restrictions announced on October 17 as China remains its largest revenue contributor, with 48% of the total sales in the three months ended September 24, up from 30% a year ago and 26% in the previous quarter, reported Nikkei Asia on October 19.
Lam reported $3.5 billion in revenue during the quarter, down 31.4% year on year.
Lam said the higher percentage of China revenue this quarter was partly due to an overall slowdown in equipment spending by customers in other regions amid a challenging macroeconomic environment.
China was the leading contributor to the company's top line, and CEO Tim Archer remained bullish on the outlook, reported Nikkei Asia.
"Nothing new came from the regulations that you saw yesterday," Archer said on the earnings call on October 18. "So I see a level of sustainability in China as we go into next year and frankly beyond. They have long-term objectives."
"We've reviewed the regulations, and our early assessment is we don't see any materially impactful forecasts in business," Archer said on the earnings call.
"Now, some of that has to do with the fact that we've already been quite restricted in terms of what we can ship into China," he added.
The company forecasts China will continue contributing nearly half of revenue in the October-December quarter despite the tightened U.S. export controls, and it remains optimistic about China as the country invests heavily in chip independence and digital transformation, according to the Nikkei Asia report.
"I don't know if China is up, down or sideways next year, but it's not going away,"Chief Financial Officer Doug Bettinger said during an earnings call.
(Li PP)
