Chinese chipmaking equipment makers fill loopholes with US export restrictions | – #Chinese #chipmaking #equipment #makers #fill #loopholes #export #restrictions
SHANGHAI, March 6 (Reuters) – The United States is working with the Netherlands and Japan to expand restrictions on exports of chip equipment to China, forcing Chinese chipmakers to turn to local suppliers such as those listed below.
SHANGHAI MICRO ELECTRONICS EQUIPMENT (SMEE)
SMEE is China’s sole maker of lithography machines used in semiconductor manufacturing, making it the country’s only potential competitor to the Netherlands’ world-leading lithography machine maker ASML Holding NV ( ASML.AS ). However, it lags far behind ASML and its Japanese peers.
Its website indicated that it has developed machines capable of producing chips at the 90-nanometer node standard. This technology is approx 20 improved years ago and is sufficient for low-end chips useful for some power management purposes.
Industry sources said the firm sells most of its lithography machines to chip packaging factories, which use them for the simpler work of wiring chips to end products.
Latest UpdatesChinacategoryAnalysis: As China ages, investors bet they can beat nursing home stigma, videoVideoWorldcategoryU.S. 37 China and Russia adds the institution to the trade blacklist, illustrated article
See 2 more stories
SMEE did not respond to a request for comment.
SMEE 20Founded in 2002 by He Rongming, former vice president of Shanghai Electric Group Co Ltd (601727.SS). Its largest shareholder, with 32%, is the State Council’s Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), which oversees state-owned enterprises.
NAURA TECHNOLOGY GROUP CO LTD (002731.SZ)
20Founded in 01 and 2010Naura, which listed in .
Naura’s most advanced etch machine supports 55nm and 28nm chip manufacturing technology, well beyond the leading edge of chip manufacturing.
The firm also makes deposition machines that apply chemicals and gases to silicon wafers throughout the chip manufacturing process. It manufactures machines capable of serving process nodes from 14 nm to 28 nm of deposition machines.
Beijing Sevenstar Electronics is its largest shareholder, followed by a state-led fund that invests in the chip industry.
ADVANCED MICRO-FABRICATION EQUIPMENT INC CHINA (AMEC) (688012.SS)
AMEC manufactures etching equipment used to remove excess material from the surface of silicon wafers.
Some of its machines have entered production lines for chips as advanced as those using 5nm technology, with its 2022 january-showed its earnings report for June, which puts it closer to competing technologically with Lam Research and Applied Materials than its Chinese peers.
However, AMEC’s market share is dwarfed by overseas competitors. In 2021, it will be 3.1 billion yuan (444.9 million dollars) generated revenue that was approximately 2.5% of Applied Materials.
AMEC in 2003 USA was founded by citizen Gerald Yin. It is about 15% owned by China’s Big Fund for chips and 15% by a tech venture capital firm linked to the Shanghai government.
BEIJING E-CITY SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGY CO LTD (BEST)
BEST manufactures degumming equipment used to remove photoresist chemicals during the lithography process. The investment prospectus showed that this segment accounted for more than 47% of the 2020 revenue.
The firm also makes etching machines, although they account for only a single-digit percentage of revenue.
BEST was founded in 2015. Its largest shareholder is Beijing E-Town Capital, a venture capital fund under the Beijing municipal government that has invested in a number of chip firms.
ACM RESEARCH INC (ACMR.O)
ACM Lam Research is designing wafer cleaning equipment in competition with Tokyo Electron, Japan’s Screen Holdings Co Ltd ( 7735.T ) and South Korea’s Mujin Electronics Co Ltd ( MUJIN.UL ).
Most of its revenue comes from a small number of clients in mainland China, namely Huahong, SMIC and YMTC, stock filings showed. It also sold equipment to South Korea’s SK Hynix Inc ( 000660.KS ).
ACM 1998 in California USA was founded by citizen David Wang and went public on NASDAQ in 2017. Its Shanghai-based subsidiary (688082.SS) went public on the STAR market in 2021.
ACM Research owns 80% of the Shanghai subsidiary, while the Greater China Foundation and several other government-linked funds own single-digit shares of the Chinese entity. The two companies have different boards of directors.
The company said in its annual report for 2021 that the head office of ACM USA however, almost 90% of its employees are located in mainland China and Taiwan, and most of its research, development, and sales are conducted in these locations.
($1 = 6.9684 Chinese Yuan Renminbi)
Reporting by Josh Horwitz; Edited by Christopher Cushing
Our standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
2023-03-06 07:01:12
Source – reuters
Translation“24 HOURS”