China’s SiCarrier Disrupts Chip Equipment Market at SEMICON 2025, Challenging ASML’s Industry Dominance

SiCarrier, recognized as China’s leading manufacturer of chip production equipment, has introduced an extensive array of tools aimed at significantly enhancing the country’s semiconductor manufacturing capabilities.

SiCarrier’s Ambitious Move to Disrupt the Global Semiconductor Market

In recent years, China’s ambition in the semiconductor sector has surged, spurred by a strong national strategy to reduce reliance on foreign technology. Major players like Huawei and SMIC have spearheaded this initiative, but much of SiCarrier’s innovative contributions have gone largely unnoticed. Backed by Huawei, SiCarrier is specializing in creating essential chipmaking machinery. The company’s latest offerings were showcased at SEMICON 2025 in China, signaling its determination to elevate local semiconductor production.

Massive release from SiCarrier/Huawei. They went ALL IN pic.twitter.com/SgaPcvwjUU

— Zephyr (@zephyr_z9) March 26, 2025

The recent catalog presented by SiCarrier highlights a variety of advanced chipmaking tools, including Rapid Thermal Processing (RTP) systems that play a critical role in the fabrication of integrated circuits (ICs).Although the catalog covers an extensive selection of equipment, it notably lacks lithography tools, suggesting that SiCarrier may be keen on keeping its advancements in this area confidential. This strategic product lineup is set to rival industry giants like ASML, Applied Materials, and LAM Research, although the effectiveness of these tools in the domestic landscape remains uncertain.

SiCarrier Chipmaking Tools — Image Credits: SCMP

During SEMICON, SiCarrier’s President Du Lijun announced that their domestic tools are capable of producing 5nm chips. However, the implementation of non-optical technology could lead to challenges with yield rates, potentially rendering production costs higher than international counterparts. To tackle these issues, SiCarrier is collaborating with SMIC and Huawei. Given the critical importance of achieving semiconductor self-sufficiency for China, a significant breakthrough in this area is anticipated soon.

There might be a path where we can use non-optical technologies, that is, using our process equipment to solve some of the lithography issues.

– Du Lijun via Reuters

SiCarrier’s overarching goal is to shift the semiconductor production balance away from countries like the Netherlands, known for being a leading supplier of chipmaking tools. Previous reports indicate that the firm is actively developing custom extreme ultraviolet (EUV) prototypes in collaboration with Huawei and the Shenzhen government. These prototypes focus on laser-induced discharge plasma (LDP) technology, which represents a crucial step toward China’s aspiration to create its own EUV lithography systems—a key element in developing advanced fabrication nodes.

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