China has begun mass production of immersion deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography machines, a technology that is critical for manufacturing advanced chips. This was reported by Reuters, citing sources.
Production has been launched by the little-known state-owned company Shanghai Aishengna Electronic Technology Group, which brought together teams from leading Chinese lithography startups. The company was founded in 2023 with $1 billion in investment.
The new production is expected to meet China’s domestic demand but is not seen as a threat to the global dominance of the Dutch company ASML, the market leader in photolithography.
According to the report, the Shanghai-based state-owned company plans to assemble five lithography machines this year and 20 next year.
Aishengna’s equipment is not yet capable of fully competing with ASML’s products, but it is expected to help China address potential supply disruptions if further restrictions are imposed on exports of chipmaking equipment. This year, the Chinese-made machines may be supplied to Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), Hua Hong Semiconductor and ChangXin Memory Technologies.
