HBM capacity shift sends more standard-chip orders toward SMIC

SMIC described the trend during its first-quarter 2026 earnings Q&A. The company said customers are looking for reliable supply as leading manufacturers prioritize higher-margin AI processors and HBM. For memory markets, the article is a useful capacity-allocation signal. It suggests HBM is not only absorbing attention from memory vendors; it is also influencing broader foundry and IDM capacity choices, pushing some standard and specialty products toward alternative suppliers. The effect is indirectly bullish for HBM because manufacturers are still reallocating scarce capacity toward it. At the same time, the shift can tighten availability in adjacent mature and specialty chip categories.