The United States, Japan, and the Netherlands previously imposed export controls on China's semiconductor equipment, which will cause a devastating blow to the Chinese semiconductor industry's ability to process technology and self-develop chips. Equipment and construction of manufacturing plants, under the circumstances of the ban and the low level of technology, China's semiconductor industry may not be able to catch up with the advanced level in the next few decades.
Lithography machines cannot enter, hundreds of chip production lines in China will be shut down
At the moment when the United States, Japan and the Netherlands reached an agreement and agreed to impose export restrictions on Chinese semiconductor equipment, it represented that about 90% of the global semiconductor equipment industry jointly blocked Chinese companies. It is understood that in the total output value of global semiconductor equipment manufacturing in 2019, The United States accounted for 41%, Japan accounted for 32%, and ASML in the Netherlands accounted for about 18%.
Relevant people said that the most critical blow of this containment policy lies in the field of exposure machines, including extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines and deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography machines. After the completion of policy-related laws and regulations, these equipment will restrict exported to China. However, China's existing lithography machines rely on imports for many important parts. Once the warranty period expires, they cannot be repaired and turned into scrap iron.
According to foreign media reports, in order to maintain the operation of China's semiconductor industry, China's semiconductor manufacturers have purchased wafer fab equipment (WFE) from the outside world through anonymous transactions, and even used second-hand equipment. For example, SMIC announced in November last year that it would increase spending by US$1.6 billion and increase the prepayment for ordering equipment to ensure the delivery of equipment for these three projects. A tender letter, looking for equipment suppliers again.
However, some Chinese media believe that the biggest bottleneck restricting the development of China's semiconductor industry is China's low level of technology. The CCP's "Global Times" published an article at the end of January stating that the localization rate of China's semiconductor equipment is less than 20%.
Another analysis pointed out that "under the sanctions imposed by the United States and others, even if the CCP persists at all costs for decades, it will be impossible to catch up with the advanced level, because the CCP will not truly respect the laws of industrial development and will not protect intellectual property rights."
