China's major memory companies, Yangtze Memory and Changxin Memory, have almost stopped their expansion due to the US semiconductor ban. YMTC engineers told the British media that China-made semiconductor equipment is only responsible for assembly, and the rest rely on foreign technology and parts. Just exporting US-controlled parts to China will suffocate us.
China's largest memory maker, Yangtze Memory Technologies, has issued at least 20 tenders for various chip-making equipment since the U.S. imposed a ban on semiconductor export controls to China on Oct. 7, the Financial Times reported.
"Our current strategy is that if there is available domestic semiconductor production equipment in China, even if (suppliers) need help, we will buy it from China," said a senior engineer at YMTC. If there is no way, choose a non-US supplier such as Japan. "I expect most of the orders will end up in the hands of domestic suppliers in China who are prioritizing customers like us, but there are still quite a few orders that are beyond their reach."
Another YMTC engineer admitted that only the assembly part of our products is entirely in China, and the rest depend on foreign technology and components. The export restrictions on components can easily suffocate us.
In addition to the supply of equipment and technology, the United States also restricts American talents from working in Chinese semiconductor factories and providing technical support. Chinese semiconductor equipment manufacturers are facing a brain drain. Headhunters in Shanghai confirmed that they had received many inquiries from equipment engineers who wanted to move to industries that were not sanctioned.
