After Huawei encountered the " cut off the supply of " in , Ren Zhengfei publicly stated that the domestic market has a large number of excellent chip design companies, but domestic companies cannot produce it. The main reason is that the EUV lithography machine, a core equipment for high-end chip manufacturing.
You should know that EUV lithography machine covers more than 100,000 precision parts and requires more than 5,000 suppliers from 35 countries around the world to provide accessories and technology. It is hailed by the industry as the "jewel" in the crown of the industry. In the eyes of many people, the development of EUV lithography machines is no less difficult than "atom D".
On the world, only the Dutch ASML company can produce this device. However, due to the chip ban, ASML has never been able to ship to all mainland chip manufacturers, including Huawei.
In the eyes of Western media, it is difficult to build EUV lithography machines by our own efforts. Even ASML said, "Even if we give the drawings to China, they can't make them." It is obvious that the US has regarded ASML as a "sharp blade" that hinders my country's chip development.
As expected, after entering 2022, the United States began to "take action" on the lithography machine again. Recently, US media reported that it was putting pressure on the Netherlands to stop selling mainstream demand lithography machines such as DUVs used in mature chip processes to Chinese chip companies.
But what the US did not expect was that this time it kicked "on the iron plate". ASML not only warned it, saying that restricting DUV lithography machines from exporting to the Chinese market would only lead to interruption of the semiconductor supply chain. Moreover, ASML also made a decision to make the Americans "lost all their faces".
It is reported that at a recent global customer exchange meeting, ASML announced that it plans to expand the annual production capacity of EUV lithography machines to 90 units and the annual production capacity of DUV lithography machines to 600 units. It is expected to achieve this goal before 2025 or 2026. As soon as the lithography machine data of
ASML instantly caused "rest" in the global chip market. In the eyes of the outside world, ASML's move is equivalent to a showdown with the United States. Under pressure and regardless of the "ban", it is also determined to ship lithography machines to the Chinese market.
You should know that the US semiconductor market is now facing a "cold winter". Chip manufacturers such as Intel , Micron are too busy to take care of themselves, and have reduced annual expenditures and even carried out large-scale layoffs.
, and two major EUV lithography machine buyers, TSMC and , Samsung , are also not optimistic at this stage. Especially TSMC, its market value has evaporated by nearly US$400 billion compared with last year. It not only actively shut down some EUV equipment, but also encourages employees to take more vacations.
According to normal logic, ASML, as an upstream supplier, should also shrink its production line. But now it has greatly increased the production capacity of . At this critical moment, who else can support its revenue profit ? There is only one answer, that is, the domestic chip market targeted by the United States.
Moreover, the CFO of ASML has also made a clear statement that we are a European company. The regulatory rules for the United States to restrict the export of chip technology equipment to China's semiconductors are very limited. This is enough to show its determination to increase its investment layout in my country's market.
As for why ASML takes the risk of "breaking up" with the United States, it also needs to increase cooperation with Chinese companies, not only because my country has the world's largest semiconductor consumer market, but also because domestic lithography machines are developing too fast, and Chinese companies such as Huawei have also opened up a new track in high-performance chips.
is first of all, chip integration technology. Huawei's dual-core superposition and the 5nm "core particles" of the packaging and testing manufacturer Tongfu Microelectronics do not rely on EUV lithography machines. The preparation links of these "tracks" focus more on packaging, and can achieve the improvement of the overall chip performance by exchanging area for performance.
is followed by quantum chip , which is known as the ultimate form of semiconductor material . As traditional electronic chips approach the limit of physics, quantum chips have become a key development project in many countries. In the field of quantum chip technology, my country can be said to be at the forefront of the world.
For example, Huawei's patent for superconducting quantum chips released not long ago can effectively reduce the crosstalk between qubit and greatly increase the computing speed. This is a technology that US companies such as Intel have not yet broken through. Compared with electronic chips, quantum chips have stronger performance and lower power consumption. The preparation process mainly involves integrating quantum lines on the substrate, and there is no need to use an EUV lithography machine.
This means that EUV lithography machines will no longer be the only way to manufacture high-end chips in the future. Whether it is dual-core superposition or quantum chips, once mass production is made, the domestic market may completely say goodbye to EUV lithography machines. This may be the main reason why ASML and the United States "fight hard".
Facts prove that Ren Zhengfei was right, peace was made. Only when we have the right to speak in core technologies and become strong enough, no one dares to bully us anymore.
The biggest change in ASML attitude today is the best proof. Therefore, we must insist on independent research and development. As the saying goes, "If you bloom, butterflies will come naturally." As long as we achieve "have food in our hands", more and more foreign companies will naturally take the initiative to come over, and those so-called "technical blockades" will eventually disappear.
