CXMT and YMTC Stockpile Three Years of ASML DUV Machines as China Seeks to Beat Export Limits

Chinese chip manufacturers CXMT and YMTC have stocked up on deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography machines from Dutch equipment maker ASML, according to a report by the Financial Times.

The stockpile is intended to support the companies’ expansion for the next three years. The reported purchases come as China’s chip industry works to reduce the impact of export limits on advanced semiconductor equipment.

The report also says that Yuliangsheng, a Chinese manufacturer of DUV equipment, is on track to produce 12 DUV machines by the end of the year. The company is pursuing a challenge to ASML, whose machines CXMT and YMTC have acquired.

DUV lithography is used to pattern semiconductor wafers during chip production. The source does not provide details about the specific ASML machine models, the number of machines purchased, or the production specifications of Yuliangsheng’s planned systems.