China's biggest chip equipment maker, SiCarrier, has unveiled a wide range of chipmaking tools intended to drive in-house semiconductor production to new levels.
China's SiCarrier Is The Nation's Biggest Chipmaking Tool Manufacturer & A Big Threat To The Dominance of ASML & Others
In recent years, China's semiconductor progress has seen a massive rise, courtesy of the nation's commitment to combat global influence. Firms like Huawei, SMIC, and many others have played their part in ensuring that China builds its chip production lines, and to some extent, they have been successful in doing so. One name that isn't mentioned enough is SiCarrier, which is said to be a Huawei-backed firm that specializes in building chipmaking tools. At SEMICON 2025 in China, the firm unveiled its next lineup of equipment, showing the intention that they won't be held back.
Massive release from SiCarrier/Huawei
They went ALL IN pic.twitter.com/SgaPcvwjUU— Zephyr (@zephyr_z9) March 26, 2025
In the company's latest catalog, published at SEMICON and revealed by @zephyr_z9, SiCarrier is said to have developed numerous chip tools, including RTP (Rapid Thermal Processing) systems used in semiconductor fabrications for IC devices. The catalog features numerous other tools, but none of them are for lithography since that might be something SiCarrier wants to keep undercover. This lineup of chipmaking products is an attempt to compete against the likes of ASML, Applied, LAM, and many others, although we are still unaware of how effective these tools are for the domestic market.
At SEMICON, SiCarrier's President Du Lijun claimed that domestic chipmaking tools have the ability to produce 5nm chips, but employing non-optical technology means that the firm will face yield rate challenges, making the output much more expensive compared to global alternatives. However, SiCarrier is working with SMIC and Huawei to figure out a solution, and given how big it is for China to achieve chip production independence, we expect a breakthrough 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
The primary aim of SiCarrier is to tilt the semiconductor balance away from nations like the Netherlands, which is a primary source of chipmaking tools. In a previous report, we disclosed how the firm is working with Huawei and the Shenzhen government to develop custom EUV prototypes focused on laser-induced discharge plasma (LDP), which will be the first step towards China developing its very own EUV lithography equipment, which might be the only barrier from the nation creating its cutting-edge nodes.
