China’s SiCarrier Shocks Chip Market with Broad Chip Equipment Launch at SEMICON 2025, Challenging ASML’s Stronghold

SiCarrier, the largest maker of chip equipment in China, has recently introduced a wide array of tools designed to elevate its own semiconductor production.

Over the past years, China’s semiconductor industry has made significant strides forward, largely to counter international dominance. Giants like Huawei and SMIC have contributed to China establishing its own chip production facilities, achieving notable success. Yet, SiCarrier often flies under the radar. This Huawei-supported company has a knack for creating chipmaking tools and made waves at SEMICON 2025 in China by showcasing its newest equipment, clearly signaling they’re steadfast in their pursuits.

A recent tweet from @zephyr_z9 highlighted SiCarrier’s newly published catalog at SEMICON, which introduced an assortment of chipmaking tools, including RTP systems essential for semiconductor manufacturing. While the catalog is extensive, there’s a noticeable absence of lithography tools, which might be a strategic choice by SiCarrier to keep certain plans under wraps. This fresh lineup is aimed at challenging industry heavyweights like ASML, Applied Materials, and LAM, though the effectiveness of these tools in the local market remains to be seen.

At SEMICON, Du Lijun, SiCarrier’s President, mentioned that their tools could potentially produce 5nm chips. However, because they utilize non-optical technology, the resulting yield rates could pose challenges, driving up costs when compared to global competitors. SiCarrier is collaborating with SMIC and Huawei to tackle these hurdles. Achieving independent chip production is a national priority for China, so a breakthrough seems on the horizon.

One potential approach, according to remarks from Du Lijun via Reuters, involves using non-optical technologies and leveraging their equipment to address certain lithography challenges.

SiCarrier’s overarching goal is to shift the global semiconductor landscape, reducing dependency on countries like the Netherlands, which supplies a majority of chipmaking gear. We previously reported that SiCarrier is joining forces with Huawei and the Shenzhen government. Their mission? To develop tailor-made EUV prototypes using laser-induced discharge plasma (LDP), laying the groundwork for China to produce its own EUV lithography tools. This innovation might just be the final hurdle in enabling the nation to create state-of-the-art nodes.