21-03-2025
Tech war: Huawei-related chip equipment maker to debut products at Shanghai trade show
A state-backed semiconductor tool maker based in Shenzhen, which has connections with Huawei Technologies and has raised hopes of China reducing its reliance on US chipmaking technologies, will make its debut at a trade event in Shanghai next week.
SiCarrier, a chip tool maker backed by the Shenzhen government, will launch new products during the three-day Semicon China exhibition, an annual industry event hosted by US-based industry association SEMI.
SiCarrier came under the spotlight in 2023 after it was granted a patent for a process that produced 5-nanometre node chips using existing deep ultraviolet lithography (DUV) tools. The breakthrough was seen as the underlying technology used by Huawei to produce a 7-nm chip for its Mate 60 Pro smartphone in 2024, although neither company has ever publicly commented on the matter.
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Established in 2021, SiCarrier came into being around the time that Huawei Technologies became subject to tighter US tech sanctions by Washington.
Naura Technology's booth at Semicon China in Shanghai last year. Photo: Handout alt=Naura Technology's booth at Semicon China in Shanghai last year. Photo: Handout>
The start-up has maintained a low profile. Its website lists just four low-tech chip tools under the title of "semiconductor manufacturing" products, while the page for "news information" is blank. The company website offers no information about the company's ownership or senior executives, although it has a "compliance statement" that pledges to respect third-party intellectual property rights.
SiCarrier's official social media account on WeChat this week published a brief agenda for its participation at Semicon China, which runs from March 26 to 28. It was the only post on the account. According to the brief statement, SiCarrier, as "a core semiconductor equipment supplier", has always committed to development and manufacturing of "advanced semiconductor equipment" to help enable China's chip industry.
SiCarrier said it will display several key products used in semiconductor wafer fabrication, with each one using a code name from a famous mountain. They include the Emei mountain epitaxial products, Wuyi mountain etching systems, Changbai mountain chemical vapour deposition (CVD) equipment, Putuoshan mountain physical vapour deposition (PVD) gear, and atomic layer deposition tools named after the Alishan mountain range in Taiwan.
The announcement immediately caught the attention of Chinese chip equipment insiders as it was the first time that SiCarrier has come out from the shadows, joining other Chinese domestic chip tool companies like Naura Technology Group and Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment, which are also making steady progress in self-sufficiency.
It is unknown whether SiCarrier's showcased products will demonstrate any key breakthroughs, but in an effort to woo new customers the company has come up with a slogan that literally translates as "in the world of chips, there's a new choice, and that's SiCarrier".
An executive from SiCarrier is scheduled to deliver a 20-minute presentation on "opportunities and challenges for semiconductor processing equipment" at the trade event next Thursday.
The 2025 edition of Semicon China, which has been a key forum for China's chip equipment and materials industry since the early 1990s, is happening at a time when China is facing tightened US restrictions on its access to advanced chips and tools over Washington's concerns that US core tech could be used to modernise the Chinese military.
Visitors walk past the Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment (SMEE) booth during Semicon China in 2023. Photo: Reuters alt=Visitors walk past the Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment (SMEE) booth during Semicon China in 2023. Photo: Reuters>
Chen Nanxiang, head of China's top memory chipmaker Yangtze Memory Technologies Corporation (YMTC) and chairman of the China Semiconductor Industry Association, and Bai Peng, president of Hua Hong Semiconductor, China's second-largest chip foundry, are also expected to be speakers at the show.
US-based companies, including chip equipment maker Lam Research and chip design software supplier Siemens EDA, are also expected to take part.
Lam Research will share how the company's technologies are used in the areas of advanced packaging, integrated circuit design and compound semiconductors, according to the Lam Research account on Chinese social media WeChat on Thursday.
This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2025 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
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