The demand in the Chinese market is strong, and Japanese semiconductor equipment manufacturers are making big profits!

Source: Xinzhixun
    On February 21st, according to the Nikkei Shimbun, although the United States has restricted the export of advanced semiconductors and manufacturing equipment to China, Japan and the Netherlands have also introduced restrictive policies to follow suit, which has forced Chinese manufacturers to start developing mature processes. Due to the lack of restrictions on mature semiconductor equipment, some Japanese semiconductor equipment manufacturers that focus on mature processes or are less affected by bans are betting on the Chinese market, with a significant increase in sales share and impressive performance in China. Japanese semiconductor analysts say that the United States may also impose restrictions on mature processes in the future.
    According to the financial report released by Japanese semiconductor cleaning equipment giant Deen, its sales from the Chinese market currently account for 44% of its total sales, an increase of 19 percentage points from the previous fiscal year. The sales focus is mainly on applications in the automotive and consumer electronics industries. Although mature process equipment usually has lower profits than advanced process equipment, it can still generate considerable profits.. "Although we comply with government restrictions, the Chinese market is still very important to us," said Masato Goto, CEO of Deen
    .Another Japanese semiconductor equipment giant, Tokyo Electronics, stated that in the three months ending December 2023, its sales from the Chinese market accounted for 46.9% of total sales, the highest in the company‘s history. Toshiki Kawai, President and CEO of Tokyo Electronics, once said, "China is working hard to improve self-sufficiency, and it is estimated that investment from Chinese chip manufacturers will continue in the next fiscal year, starting from April."
    Japanese camera and lithography machine manufacturer Nikon announced at the end of last year that it will officially release the ArF immersion lithography machine NSR-S636E in January 2024. Nikon claims that as the exposure system for key layers in semiconductor production, the NSR-S636E has higher production efficiency in Nikon‘s history, as well as a high level of etching accuracy and production speed, which can provide solutions for the challenges of diverse device structures such as 3D in cutting-edge semiconductor devices. Muneaki Tokunari, Senior Executive Vice President of Nikon, also stated that the company has recently received "very strong demands" from customers, but will expand its business while "adhering to rules.".
    Another Japanese semiconductor equipment manufacturer with a parts production base in China has stated that US export controls will help its Chinese business grow as Chinese customers see it as a more stable supplier.
    Although Japanese companies are enjoying the dividends of the US China trade war, uncertainty remains. Due to the announcement by the US Department of Commerce in December last year, an investigation into how US companies purchase current generation and mature node semiconductors will begin in January of this year. This analysis will provide information for policies in the United States that support semiconductor supply chains, promote a fair competitive environment for traditional chip production, and reduce external security risks. Analysts suggest that the United States may further impose new restrictions on mature processes in the future, which may also affect Japanese companies exporting mature process equipment to China.