Detail

While NVIDIA is once again complying with sanctions and taking another “miniaturized” graphics card to China, ASML, which is behind the basic equipment for chip production, is not trying to balance on two chairs. According to Bloomberg, the Biden administration asked ASML to limit supplies of deep ultraviolet lithography (DUV) machines to Chinese customers “a few weeks before” Jan. 1, 2024. This happened after it became known that the company was known. SMIC used ASML technology to produce Huawei’s new processorIt is the 7 nanometer HiSilicon Kirin 9000S that the company returns to the market of full-fledged flagships.

In addition to DUV machines, ASML also produces ultraviolet lithography (EUV) machines to make more advanced chips with processes of 5 nanometers or less for companies like Apple and Qualcomm. Although ASML has never been authorized to sell EUV lithography equipment to China, In August, the Dutch government granted the company a license to supply DUV lithography equipment until the end of 2023..

Bloomberg reported that the situation changed when the US government, specifically National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, allegedly contacted the Dutch government about some of ASML’s recent shipments to China, leading his team to contact ASML directly. Therefore, according to journalists’ reports, only the deliveries of the last few batches were affected.

Although China can source lithography machines from other countries, none can compete with ASML’s unique equipment. China had to make great efforts to start its own production after the start of the trade war with the USA and especially after Huawei’s access to American technologies was restricted. For a long time, the country could only produce very old chips using, for example, 17 nanometer technology and more. However, at the end of 2023, the company quietly launched a new smartphone with a 7-nanometer chip and 5G technology. So it’s no surprise that the US is desperately trying to stop ASML’s final DUV delivery to China; although doing so before the agreed deadline would be a legally dubious move.