A foreign media article commented that Japan's chip restrictions were seriously miscalculated. Since the U.S. chip ban was issued, the global semiconductor chip market has changed dramatically. In order to restrict the development of Chinese companies in the field of semiconductors, the United States, Japan, the Netherlands and other countries formed an alliance, and imposed strict restrictions on the export of semiconductor production equipment. However, compared to the United States, Japan has the strictest restrictions on the export of semiconductor equipment, and the restrictions on 23 types of semiconductor equipment, such as lithography machines and etching machines, are even stricter than those of the United States. The Netherlands, on the other hand, was smarter and did not block ASML's exports, which allowed Dutch ASML to still obtain a temporary export license. According to the data, due to the importance of the semiconductor industry in China, the amount of semiconductor equipment imported by China has increased by 64%. Most of the equipment imports are from the Netherlands and the United States, while equipment imports from Japan have been decreasing, and the market share of Japanese companies is also declining. The article points out that Japan's restrictions on the export of semiconductor equipment are very strict, resulting in the loss of many overseas markets for Japanese companies. In the past, many companies would choose to import equipment from Japan because the technological level of Japanese equipment is relatively high. However, with the chip restriction rules issued by Japan, the equipment exports of Japanese companies such as Canon and Nikon have been severely restricted, and their market share has also declined. At the same time, Dutch ASML and some American companies have obtained temporary shipping licenses and continue to supply equipment to the Chinese market, further eroding the market share of Japanese companies. Second, Japanese companies lag behind other countries in terms of technology research and development. With the continuous development of semiconductor technology around the world, Japanese companies have lost a lot of their leading edge. Although Japanese companies such as Canon and Nikon enjoyed a high position in the field of semiconductor equipment in the past, they have now been surpassed by companies in countries such as ASML in the Netherlands. Due to the lack of technology research and development, Japanese companies can only rely on old technology and equipment to maintain production, which leads to the lack of competitiveness of their products in the market. Finally, due to the export restrictions of Japanese equipment, many Chinese companies began to choose to import equipment from other countries, which made Japanese companies lose a lot of customers and markets. Given the huge potential of the Chinese market, many companies are starting to set their sights on the Chinese market. However, due to the export restrictions of Japanese equipment, these companies are unable to import equipment from Japan and can only choose to import from other countries, which makes Japanese companies lose a lot of opportunities and further weakens their competitiveness. To sum up, Japan's export restrictions on semiconductor equipment have not achieved the expected effect, but have caused Japanese companies to lose many opportunities and markets. Due to the lack of technology research and development and changes in market demand, Japanese semiconductor companies have completely "miscalculated". In order to change this situation, Japanese companies need to strengthen technological research and development and innovation to improve the quality and competitiveness of their products. At the same time, it is also necessary to relax export restrictions on semiconductor equipment and pay attention to the Chinese market to promote the development of enterprises and market expansion. Only in this way can Japan's semiconductor industry regain its strength.
Personal summary: By reading this article, I learned that Japan's export restrictions on semiconductor equipment were seriously miscalculated. First, Japan's restrictions on equipment exports have caused companies to lose many overseas markets and their market share has been declining. Second, Japanese companies lag behind other countries in technology research and development, losing their leading edge and lacking competitiveness in their products. Third, Japanese companies have lost many customers and markets due to equipment export restrictions, which has weakened their competitiveness. In summary, Japan needs to strengthen technology R&D and innovation, relax restrictions on equipment exports, and focus on the Chinese market to restore the competitiveness of the semiconductor industry.