SCMP isn't all that great for tracking semi, and the bit about SMEE was of especially disappointing quality, seeing how it was built on a bunch of false assumptions. It was mainly the bit about Naura that seemed to be worth discussing, given the potential prospect of them working more deeply with lithography.
Chinese semiconductor thread II
- Thread starter vincent
- Start date
Some financial guy view on China equipment industry, pretty basic stuff that we here already know but is still interesting to see how these guys see things from their perspective given that a lot of them not all but a lot them have a pretty narrow view of the situation in the ground in China.
Well NAURA along SMEE, PIOTECH and others created a companies akin to the Shanghai ICRD in 2020 to collaborate in the development of localized semiconductor equipment, I already posted about that company, they have a fab with an output of 20,000 WPM, so it would not surprise me if they are working with SMEE to create some synergy between their equipment.
If that is the article referring to that then they may be correct but if they are trying to say the NAURA is making their own litho machines then the article is wrong.
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I was quoting the article and pointing out it's ridiculous conclusions. I've been following this thread very closely. I was merely voicing criticism of the scmp article which is quite misleading.
But hey whatever makes the Americans feel more reassured and drop their guard is good.
There is a bit of disappointment that the SSA800 hasn't hit SMEE's 2024 products catalog yet. So that probably constitutes "hitting a wall."
That said, SMEE has delivered machines for testing and probably even for verification. Despite DUV being viewed as being "old" tech compared to EUV, right now SMEE is the only company that is making a DUV (NXT-2000i equivalent) outside ASML.
This is hard stuff but having actual systems being tested and being verified on the process line actually means they are clearly a step from smashing through the "wall."
Sirui Intelligent completed hundreds of millions of yuan in Series B financing, focusing on the semiconductor front-end process equipment track
Qingdao Sifang Sirui Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. (referred to as Sirui Intelligence) recently completed hundreds of millions of yuan in Series B financing. This round of financing was jointly led by SAIC Strategic Direct Investment, Shangqi Capital and CDH Investment; well-known investors such as China Merchants Venture Capital, Shanghai Gimpo, Xinding Capital, Sinovation Ventures, Huakong Fund and Qing Venture Capital also participated in the investment; Old shareholders such as Ocean Pine Capital, Haiao Xinke, Xinxin Venture Capital, Hengchuang Investment, and Tongge Venture Capital continue to support the company.
Qingdao Sifang Sirui Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. was established in 2018 and is headquartered in Qingdao, China, with R&D centers in Beijing and Shanghai. Sirui Intelligent mainly focuses on key semiconductor front-end process equipment. Its products include atomic layer deposition (ALD) equipment and ion implantation (IMP) equipment, which can be widely used in integrated circuits, third-generation semiconductors, new energy, optics, parts coating, etc. Many high-precision fields.
Official news from Sirui Intelligent shows that in 2018, the company completed the acquisition of 100% equity of Beneq in Finland, the birthplace of ALD technology. Sirui Intelligent integrates Beneq's overseas cutting-edge technology research and development resources, carries out domestic and foreign joint research and development and domestic industrialization of ALD technology, and has established a complete ALD product system, covering many leading customers around the world and gaining market leadership in many market segments. competitive position. After promoting the transformation and upgrading of the ALD business, it laid out the ion implantation equipment business and achieved breakthroughs. SIRUI Intelligence uses high-energy ion implanters as the entry point to carry out research and development, solve the problem of "stuck neck" of domestic high-end ion implanters, and gradually complete the layout of a full range of models in the silicon-based and compound semiconductor fields.
Qingdao Sifang Sirui Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. was established in 2018 and is headquartered in Qingdao, China, with R&D centers in Beijing and Shanghai. Sirui Intelligent mainly focuses on key semiconductor front-end process equipment. Its products include atomic layer deposition (ALD) equipment and ion implantation (IMP) equipment, which can be widely used in integrated circuits, third-generation semiconductors, new energy, optics, parts coating, etc. Many high-precision fields.
Official news from Sirui Intelligent shows that in 2018, the company completed the acquisition of 100% equity of Beneq in Finland, the birthplace of ALD technology. Sirui Intelligent integrates Beneq's overseas cutting-edge technology research and development resources, carries out domestic and foreign joint research and development and domestic industrialization of ALD technology, and has established a complete ALD product system, covering many leading customers around the world and gaining market leadership in many market segments. competitive position. After promoting the transformation and upgrading of the ALD business, it laid out the ion implantation equipment business and achieved breakthroughs. SIRUI Intelligence uses high-energy ion implanters as the entry point to carry out research and development, solve the problem of "stuck neck" of domestic high-end ion implanters, and gradually complete the layout of a full range of models in the silicon-based and compound semiconductor fields.
My take, Timing is everything , first they're waiting for new sanction coming from the US to officially announce it and second since we're in the first quarter of the year ideally the month of October is the perfect official launch date, aside from boosting national pride on Peoples Republic National day, the side effect will be a huge embarrassment on Brandon reelection bid this November.
The tool is already patterning wafers, sadly for us, SMEE doesn't face the same internal competition than NAURA face for example, that it has to constantly display its equipment advancements to avoid to be seem that is lagging behind AMEC. SMEE doesn't face that pressure, except in parts like metrology, when Angstrom-e Announced their DBO overlay metrology tool SMEE didn't have any other option than announce theirs.
China semiconductor industry development is becoming less transparent to outsiders, companies and institutions are obfuscating a lot of development, information is becoming scarce and things that used to be regularly published is being removed of the internet , the things you see is only the tip of the iceberg, things that companies publish because commercial competition, patents and some research.
SMEE's DUV is all tied up in patents, and there has been almost no news about it since 2022, but patents are still being released by lithography research companies about the DUV-DUV-I -EUV is still released every month...
Yes, I think it will continue to be less transparent until the turning point where the industry has satisfied enough domestic demand and internal competition forces firms to start competing for outside business.
Chinese HPCs had been shrouded in mystery despite China having some of the fastest if not fastest petaflop plus systems around.
Being transparent at this point does them no good besides bringing about more sanctions.
That said, the official catalog at SMEE should reflect the SA800 at some point in next several years. If not, then we can expect that SMEE encountered issues and temper optimism a bit. Not everything can be fast tracked like etching.