Chinese semiconductor industry

tonyget said:

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Applied Materials under US criminal probe for shipments to China's SMIC​

(Reuters) - Semiconductor equipment maker Applied Materials is under U.S. criminal investigation for potentially evading export restrictions on China's top chipmaker SMIC, according to three people familiar with the matter.

The largest U.S. semiconductor equipment maker is being probed by the Justice Department for sending equipment to SMIC via South Korea without export licenses, the sources said. Hundreds of millions of dollars of equipment is involved, one of the people said. Reuters is reporting details of the probe for the first time.

Shares in Applied Materials fell 7.3% after the news and the company reported quarterly results.

The U.S. has restricted shipments of advanced chips and chipmaking equipment to China for national security, and the Justice and Commerce departments launched a task force earlier this year to investigate and prosecute criminal violations of export controls. The rules are aimed at stemming the flow of U.S. technology that could be used to bolster China's military and intelligence capabilities.

Santa Clara, California-based Applied Materials said Thursday it first disclosed in October 2022 that it had received a subpoena from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Massachusetts for information on certain China customer shipments. "The company is cooperating with the government and remains committed to compliance and global laws, including export controls and trade regulations," it said in a statement.

The U.S. Attorney's office in Boston said: "We do not confirm or deny investigations."

Prosecutors in the office's National Security Unit are handling the ongoing probe, two sources said.

Reuters could not determine whether Applied Materials violated the law, and it isn't clear whether the investigation will result in charges.

The company produced semiconductor equipment in Massachusetts, then repeatedly shipped the equipment from its plant in Gloucester to a subsidiary in South Korea, the people said. From there, the equipment went to China's Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), the people, familiar with the probe, said.

The shipments began after the U.S. Commerce Department added SMIC to its "Entity List" in December 2020, which restricted exports of goods and technology to the company, two of the sources said, and took place in 2021 and 2022.

SMIC was placed on the list over its apparent ties to the Chinese military. SMIC did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the shipments from Applied Materials. In 2020, SMIC denied ties with the Chinese military, saying that it manufactures chips and provides services "solely for civilian and commercial end-users and end-uses."

A spokesperson for the Commerce Department, which oversees export controls, declined comment. A spokesperson for China's embassy in Washington was not aware of the Applied Materials probe. But Liu Pengyu, the spokesperson, said that, as a general principle, "imposed restrictions" are "at odds with market economy principles and fair competition."

SUBJECT TO UNCERTAINTIES

In adding SMIC to its trade blacklist in 2020, the Commerce Department said that licenses for equipment uniquely capable of producing chips at advanced technology nodes are likely to be denied to "prevent such key enabling technology from supporting China’s military modernization efforts,” according to a 2020 posting in the Federal Register.

Licenses for other items are subject to a case-by-case review, it added.

In March 2021, Reuters reported that the U.S. government had been slow to approve licenses for American companies like Lam Research Corp and Applied Materials to sell to SMIC.

"This matter is subject to uncertainties, and we cannot predict the outcome, nor reasonably estimate a range of loss or penalties, if any, relating to this matter," the company said in an August 2023 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in reference to its 2022 receipt of the subpoena relating to certain China customer shipments.

(Reporting by Karen Freifeld; Editing by Anna Driver)

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tonyget said:

Applied Materials under US criminal probe for shipments to China's SMIC​

Santa Clara, California-based Applied Materials said Thursday it first disclosed in October 2022 that it had received a subpoena from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Massachusetts for information on certain China customer shipments.

Reuters could not determine whether Applied Materials violated the law, and it isn't clear whether the investigation will result in charges.

The company produced semiconductor equipment in Massachusetts, then repeatedly shipped the equipment from its plant in Gloucester to a subsidiary in South Korea, the people said. From there, the equipment went to China's Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), the people, familiar with the probe, said.

The shipments began after the U.S. Commerce Department added SMIC to its "Entity List" in December 2020, which restricted exports of goods and technology to the company, two of the sources said, and took place in 2021 and 2022.

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paiemon said:

Interesting evasion scheme, bold to use your own subsidiary to conduct transhipments instead of some arms length third party for plausible deniability. I am going to guess that AMAT is going to throw their SK subsidiary under the bus by claiming that they did not direct the transhipment and it was completely on the initiative of the SK subsidiary and their staff who approved it. Therefore, some bad apples at the SK subsidiary will be punished, but since violating US export controls isn't a crime in SK they will just be let go. Now of course this is probably all done with a wink and nod from AMAT USA but since there are likely no signoffs that can be traced back to them, AMAT USA can keep their hands clean and claim compliance while booking hundreds of millions in revenue from these transactions. A couple of SK scapegoats get punished, but I am sure AMAT probably compensated them well for taking the fall and they shouldn't have trouble finding employment else given there are likely behind the scenes understandings between parties. If US companies want to take the risks to keep SMIC supplied for advanced nodes, I wonder if its enough to incrementally up the existing advanced node capacity they have?

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• Ruiyun Technology Co., Ltd.

• Successfully developed ceramic electrostatic chuck (ESC) in 2012;
• In 2014, the mass production of ceramic electrostatic chuck (ESC) products, wet wafer etching machine (SAT), and wet photoresist remover (SST) was established.

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liospopo said:

RTX 4090 removed from Nvidia Chinese website.

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Zhizhen Precision Instruments received tens of millions of yuan in Series A financing​

Zhizhen Precision Instruments completed tens of millions of yuan in Series A financing, led by Yida Capital, followed by Yuanhe Capital, Jimen Asset Management and Jinke Junchuang Capital. The financing funds will be mainly used for new product research and development, production line expansion and market development.
Up to now, Zhizhen Precision Instruments has completed four rounds of financing, with the total amount exceeding 100 million yuan.
Zhizhen Precision Instruments was established in 2019. It is a national high-tech enterprise whose main business is the research and development and production of integrated circuit production line testing equipment and high-end scientific instruments. It has more than 40 core patents and can contribute to the research and integration of spin electronics disciplines. Provide a complete set of solutions for key test equipment in circuit production lines. The company has gathered nearly 100 talents of all types and built an engineering team with a full range of work types including optics, electricity, precision machinery, measurement, control and automation, software and algorithms.
Zhizhen Precision Instruments has developed a series of cutting-edge scientific research equipment in the fields of magnetism and spin electronics, including "multifunctional magneto-optical Kerr microscope, magnetic field probe station, MOKE magnetic measuring instrument, TR-MOKE, AGM high-precision magnetic Strength meter, Spin-pumping test system, low-temperature magnetic field probe station, magnetron sputtering system, etc.

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Specializing in third-generation semiconductor materials, the first phase of production capacity is 150,000 pieces/year. The first batch of equipment for the silicon carbide project of Jiangsu Jixin Advanced Materials Co., Ltd. has arrived.​

Semiconductor Industry Network News After half a year of intense construction, on November 16, the first phase of Jiangsu Jixin Advanced Materials Co., Ltd.'s silicon carbide substrate manufacturing base with an annual output of 150,000 pieces moved into the first batch of production equipment. Jixin Advanced Company adheres closely to the time juncture, vigorously promotes the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, further improves product quality, seizes opportunities in the third-generation semiconductor market, and strives to be the leader in the integrated circuit and ICT industry.



Jixin Advanced Company, which signed a contract to settle in Xuzhou High-tech Zone at the end of April, is a new recruit and veteran of the third-generation semiconductor industry. It was formerly the Jiangsu Jixin Semiconductor Silicon Materials Research Institute. It was established in 2019 and was initiated by Xinxin Semiconductor. , a provincial science and technology enterprise jointly established with the Xuzhou Government, Academician Yang Deren of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a team of doctoral experts. Jixin Advanced Company inherits and carries forward the spirit of Jixin Research Institute’s professional focus on scientific and technological innovation, and is committed to the research, development and manufacturing of third-generation semiconductor silicon carbide materials.

Jixin Advanced Company has a complete range of products, including high-purity silicon carbide synthetic powder no less than 6N, 6/8-inch silicon carbide seed crystals, ingots and substrates, as well as high-purity graphite-based tantalum carbide coatings. Through independent research and development and technology integration, Jixin Advanced Company has formed nearly 100 self-owned patents, including 34 invention patents. The patent scope covers silicon carbide powder synthesis, coating preparation, equipment design, thermal field design, crystal growth process and lining. The entire manufacturing process including bottom processing forms a closed loop of advantages in the production of silicon carbide substrate materials.​

tphuang said:

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yep, great news for Huawei I think. We will see something from next year.

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tonyget said:

Huawei doesn't make GPU for graphic rendering

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tphuang said:

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yep, great news for Huawei I think. We will see something from next year.

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