China State Firm Begins Making DUV Lithography Tools
The report signals a potential end to ASML's near-monopoly on DUV lithography, though production volumes remain far below ASML's output.
Reporting from 1 source: GIGAZINE.
A Chinese state-owned company has begun manufacturing immersion deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography equipment, a market long dominated by Dutch firm ASML. The tools will reportedly supply domestic chipmakers SMIC and CXMT. The plan is early-stage, with about five machines planned for 2026 and twenty for 2027. ASML's stock fell 7% on the news.
The report, attributed to people familiar with the matter, says a Shanghai-based company is making the machines and plans to deliver them to SMIC and CXMT. The initiative is still in its early phase; Chinese manufacturers are expected to spend months verifying the equipment's precision, reliability, and compatibility before use.
Initial plans call for about five units in 2026 and roughly twenty in 2027. That volume is far below the 131 machines ASML produced in 2025, a point JPMorgan stressed to investors, noting that producing a limited number of tools is not the same as delivering machines that support mass production.
The news also hit other semiconductor supply chain stocks: BESI fell about 8.5%, Soitec dropped 5%, and Infineon Technologies declined roughly 3%.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.
Sources
- GIGAZINE 中国国営企業が半導体生産に必要なDUV露光装置の製造を開始したとの報道