Japan's semiconductor equipment makers are enjoying strong demand from China, in part due to Washington's restrictions and China's efforts to boost the local chip industry.
Masato Goto, president of Screen Semiconductor Solutions, told Nikkei Asia:"In China, since advanced chips cannot be exported to China, there is a need to ensure the safety of traditional generation chips in large quantities. Screen Semiconductor Solutions Inc., a company owned by Japan Screen Holdings, is a major machine manufacturer whose products include machines for cleaning chip wafers to remove tiny pieces of metal. These metal fragments can be as small as 01 micron, or one ten-thousandth of a millimeter.
In the fiscal year ending in March, Chinese sales are expected to reach 44 percent of the company's total sales, up from 19 percent in the previous fiscal year.
Goto said:"Sales are primarily directed to the automotive and consumer electronics industries, which typically use 45nm or 28nm node levels." Nanometer, roughly speaking, refers to the distance between transistors. The smaller the number, the more transistors can be squeezed out of the same area, resulting in more efficient and powerful chips. State-of-the-art chips tend to be in the single-digit nanoscale, which means that China's demand is mainly from older generation chip technology.
Goto said that older generation machines are generally less profitable than advanced chip-making technologies, but they are still possible"Create significant profits", because they cover a wider market segment, it is possible to sell more products.
Goto said:"Although we comply with the restrictions, the Chinese market is still important to us."
Tokyo Electron Corp., the world's top supplier of wafer coaters, said that the Chinese market accounted for 46% of its total sales in the three months to December9%, the highest ever for the Japanese company. The company's president and CEO, Toshiki Kawai, said at a ** press conference earlier this month"Chinese chipmakers are expected to continue investing in the next fiscal year, which starts in April, as China strives to increase its self-sufficiency rate."
Japanese machinery manufacturers like this are enjoying the unexpected benefits of the Sino-US war. Faced with the problem of increasing difficulty in sourcing chips and materials, Chinese chipmakers are actively investing in domestic ** chains, and China ** has also provided funds.
According to an analyst based in Japan, China"Intend to invest in everything that can be invested, including traditional products, and train people and engineers related to semiconductors"γThe analyst said it was part of China's efforts to strengthen its domestic production capacity and catch up with Western countries in chip technology.
In July, Tokyo followed Washington in restricting the export of certain equipment that could be used to produce advanced chips. According to the regulations, a license must be obtained for the export of such tools to countries that are not on the list of friendly countries, such as China. The company is still free to sell older generation products.
Some companies are actively betting on the promising Chinese market.
Nikon, a maker of lithography machines used by Japanese camera and chip makers, plans to sell a new product this summer that has been using i-line lithography technology for decades. i-line technology refers to a wavelength of light that was first commercialized in the early 90s of the 20th century. The upcoming product is Nikon's first i-line machine in 25 years.
Nikon Senior Executive Vice President Tosei Zongming recently told reporters that the company"Received a very strong request from the customer", the company will"Expand your business while following the rules"γ
Another Japanese chip tool maker with a parts production base in China told Nikkei Asia that U.S. export controls have helped the company's operations in China because they have caused a shortage of ** among its competitors. This helps to boost the image of the Japanese company as it is seen as a more stable businessman.
The president of the company said:"I think the assurance that our company has a factory in China has played a role in some of our customers transferring production from competitors to us."
The president said he also wanted to expand local R&D capabilities as he saw an opportunity to work with local manufacturers. "We have no intention of withdrawing from China for the time being"He said. "I think we can make a good profit by moving on."
However, uncertainty remains. The U.S. Commerce Department announced in December that it would begin an investigation into the risks of traditional Chinese-made chips used by U.S. companies, citing potential security concerns. Analysts say Washington may impose new restrictions on Western companies, making it difficult for Japanese companies to export even older chip technology to China.
There are concerns that Chinese manufacturers may use old-fashioned chip equipment to improve their technology. An executive at another Japanese chip tool company, speaking on condition of anonymity, said:"We suspect that some of our products may be used to make intermediate generation chips between traditional and advanced chips."
Another problem, some companies say, is that China's market is changing rapidly.
Wafer polishing machine maker Ebara said it had also benefited from the investment boost from Chinese companies, but it would remain cautious about the Chinese market and hinted that homegrown new ventures that had risen under the funding of ** could disappear quickly.
Masao Asami, the company's president and CEO, told reporters on Wednesday"Looking back, there were some Chinese companies that said they wanted to build new factories, but then stopped planning and soon went bankrupt. Therefore, we have always been cautious about China."
Asami also said:"It's like that saying,'Smile and maintain a good relationship with your customers, but always ask them to pay in cash'βγ
2024 02 20 11:31 Nikkei English News.