From Asia Times, July 31:
Investors dumped shares in the Dutch lithography giant earlier this week, but analysts say the sell-off has gone too far
Media reports published earlier this week about China’s plan to start making its own immersion deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography machines have caused a sharp sell-off of European chip equipment stocks. But Chinese pundits say the situation remains very far from a point where China’s DUV machines coukd compete with ASML’s.
The Information reported Monday that a state-backed manufacturer, whose identity has not been disclosed due to the sensitivity of the matter, has begun mass producing the homegrown machines. Production will be limited initially, with about five units expected this year and roughly 20 more in 2027, for delivery to leading chipmakers including Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), Hua Hong Semiconductor and ChangXin Memory Technologies.
The report said the breakthrough could eventually challenge ASML’s position in China, but cautioned that the system still lags in performance and reliability and requires further testing before mass production.
Reuters reported Tuesday that the Chinese state-owned firm mass-producing the machines is Shanghai Aishengna Electronic Technology Group.
Public information shows that Aishengna was founded in August 2023 with registered capital of 7 billion yuan (about US$1 billion), backed by two state-owned shareholders, Shanghai Electric Holding and a Shanghai International Trust subsidiary. The secretive firm has no website and has disclosed little about its operations, but Reuters reported it has absorbed teams from Shanghai Yuliangsheng, which began testing a DUV prototype last year, and from Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment (SMEE).
ASML shares fell 13% over the first three trading days this week. BE Semiconductor Industries declined 16.3% and Infineon Technologies slipped 15.5% over the same period. The three stocks rebounded on Thursday after JP Morgan analysts called the selloff disproportionate to what the report had indicated, though their shares have yet to return to last Friday’s level.
Without confirming whether China is producing its own immersion DUV machines, the Global Times, a unit of the People’s Daily, said in an editorial on Tuesday that the significant fall in chip equipment suppliers’ shares showed that “Western investors’ blind faith in the effectiveness of blockades has been shaken, and the US-led decoupling strategy has lost much of its momentum.” ....
....MUCH MORE
Our intro to December 2025's "Chips: China's Huawei May Have Found A Way Around ASML's Technology":
As the kids say: Big if true.
In late October we linked to this story, "China reportedly caught reverse-engineering ASML’s DUV lithography". The efforts, which have been going on for years are a very tough slog.*
The Chinese are trying to recreate the most complex machine ever manufactured by human beings. In the example above, the Chinese engineers broke the ASML machine. Hilarity ensued.
They called ASML to request a service call.
Now it appears they may not have to conquer the next-level Extreme Ultra Violet technology to get to next year's state-of-the-art in chip manufacturing.
The DUV will do.
From the always-alert observers at Huawei Central....
And if interested see also July 28, 2025's "China’s reported chip breakthrough comes with some big caveats".
