Chinese semiconductor-related companies pulled out all the stops at one of the country's largest chip-sector fairs this week to pitch domestic buying, echoing Beijing's call to galvanize support for an industry facing growing geopolitical strains.
The message was plastered across booths and marketing
materials of a variety of companies, from chip equipment makers to materials
producers. These included Vel-Tec Semiconductor, a Kunshan-based firm that
makes photoresist coating equipment, and Shenzhen-listed Jingsheng, which
manufactures machines used for processing silicon wafers.
Over a dozen Chinese exhibitors at the annual Semicon China
show in Shanghai that Reuters spoke to said their products could be used as
replacement for foreign-made ones. Staff from foreign firms that were
represented said that while there was still a gap in quality and efficacy,
Chinese rivals were quickly catching up.
"'Buy local' and getting supply chains out of US
control was a clear focus of many at the show," said Cameron Johnson, a
Shanghai-based senior partner at consultancy Tidalwave Solutions, who has
attended Semicon since 2016.
The three-day show provided a glimpse into the mood of the
Chinese semiconductor industry, which has been hit with multiple export curbs
from the US and its allies. Washington says it does not want to see advanced
chips and related technology end up in the hands of the Chinese military.
Such pressure has spurred calls from Beijing to its domestic
chip industry to catch up faster with foreign countries and to become more
self-reliant. China has poured billions of dollars into the effort but the
complexities and globally interconnected nature of the chip supply chain has
meant that a big gap still exists, analysts say.
Few US firms turned up at the event that attracted 1,100
exhibitors and large crowds of visitors though there were several Japanese,
South Korean, and Taiwanese companies. Big Chinese names such as the country's
largest foundry, SMIC, were also absent.
Catching up
A Beijing-based salesperson, surnamed Ye, representing a
Japanese company that makes materials used in chipmaking, said Chinese rivals
are rapidly closing the gap in material areas that do not require cutting-edge
technology.
"Formulating material prescriptions is a major entry
barrier, but Chinese companies are learning quickly and overcoming this
hurdle," he said.
This is because more manufacturing facilities are willing to
use materials prescribed by Chinese firms, a trend that has certainly been
accelerated by US sanctions, he said.
Chinese companies are also gaining more orders against
foreign rivals in the equipment sector, according to Ye, who said he deals with
many Chinese semiconductor equipment makers.
An attending salesperson from a Shenzhen-based firm that
makes testing equipment used throughout all processes of chipmaking said
Chinese firms had cost advantages and his firm's highest-end product is now
being sold at just one-third of the price of its Japanese rivals.
Because of the cost advantage, manufacturing facilities and
clients tend to prioritise domestic firms for production lines in newly opened
plants, he said, asking not to be named as he has been told not to speak to
media.
In some cases, they even replace foreign equipment with
domestic alternatives in older production lines, he added. Reuters
0 comments:
Post a Comment