Chinese chip-making equipment makers

Chinese chip-making equipment makers are growing rapidly after years of lagging behind their Western counterparts.

Advanced Micro-fabrication Equipment , a competitor to the US company Lam Research, can now produce some types of equipment for etching chips with sizes of 5 and 28 nanometers. In the third quarter of 2023, its sales were up 41% compared to 2022.

Shanghai Microelectronics Equipment , a Chinese leader in lithography, is preparing to soon introduce a machine capable of serving 28nm production.

Wafer cleaning tool company ACM Research has invented its own technology, which it sells to US blacklisted Chinese firms SMIC , YMTC and CXMT , as well as, reportedly, Western giants SK Hynix and Intel. The company’s third-quarter 2023 revenues were up 80% year-over-year.

Naura Technology etching equipment can be used for 28- and 55-nanometer chips. The company reported 35 percent sales growth in the third quarter of 2023.

Other companies are also trying to replace ASML’s signature product, the ultraviolet lithography tools needed for large-scale production of 3-nanometer chips. The Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics and the Chinese Academy of Sciences appear to be jointly developing extreme ultraviolet technology.

These machine tool companies are sure to continue to grow thanks to generous government support. Beijing has significantly stepped up its efforts in semiconductor manufacturing, especially after 2022.

What all this means and how Washington can and should slow down the development of these chip companies is discussed by Ben Noon, a member of the Asia Directorate of the National Security Council of the Vandenberg Coalition. Read here.