BEIJING, Oct 18 — As the US tightens its restrictions on China’s semiconductor industry, Chinese manufacturers of tools used to make chips are benefiting, with orders from the country’s foundries accelerating in recent months.
From July to August 2023, 62 per cent were won by Chinese suppliers compared to only 36.3 per cent from March to April, the brokerage’s analysts said.It marks a turning point for the industry, reflecting acceptance that US restrictions on technology imports are unlikely to ease and could get worse and that self-reliance - as urged by Chinese President Xi Jinping - is the way forward.
“Now, foundries are testing out Chinese-made equipment for every foreign machine they own and if they find that it meets their needs, they replace all of them,” he said. “They want as few foreign machines as feasible.” Analysts said that Chinese manufacturers were getting better at producing equipment in areas such as etching and cleansing, where they compete globally with the likes of US firms Applied Materials Inc AMAT.O and Lam Research Corp LRCX.O.
“There is definitely huge progress happening in the Chinese semiconductor equipment space, as reflected in the strong revenue growth metrics,” he said. China’s imports of lithography machines and components used in such machines from the Netherlands rose 81.2 per cent year-over-year to US$3.3 billion from January to August, according to Reuters’ calculations based on data from China’s customs.