Chinese imports of the critical semiconductor equipment reached US$2.58 billion in the year through July, already more than the US$2.36 billion ASML projected.

China’s imports of Dutch lithography machines have surged this year, with the first seven months already surpassing ASML Holding’s previous forecast for 2023 sales to China, according to a new report, as Chinese firms stock up on the equipment ahead of new export curbs.

From January to July, Chinese imports of Dutch-made lithography machines, nearly all from chip equipment giant ASML, grew 64.8 per cent year on year to US$2.58 billion, Chinese semiconductor industry consultancy JW Insights said in a report published on Friday, citing China customs data.

In January, ASML projected that its sales to China this year would remain steady at about 2.2 billion euros (US$2.36 billion), or 14 per cent of its total annual revenue.

In July, China imported US$626 million worth of lithography machines from the Netherlands, nearly eight times larger than the same month last year, according to the report.

ASML has a near monopoly on the world’s most advanced lithography machines, which are required for the production of cutting-edge chips. Under US pressure, the company has cut off exports of its extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography systems to China.

  • Pons_Aelius@kbin.social
    3·
    1 year ago

    gaining access to TSMC would be one of the mainland China’s prime targets to take over.

    They will never get them in an operational state. It is not just the fabs, which I doubt will survive the invasion but the hundreds of engineers needed to run them.