A state-backed Shanghai company has begun building immersion deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography machines, marking China’s first reported move toward small-scale production of the equipment, The Information reported.
YU GU
The development triggered a sharp sell-off across global semiconductor stocks as investors reassessed the potential threat to foreign chipmakers and equipment suppliers.
ASML shares fell as much as 8.3%, having traded higher throughout the morning in Amsterdam. Jitters quickly spread to chip-equipment peers around the world: ASM International NV dropped as much as 7.3%, BE Semiconductor Industries NV slid 9.9%, Applied Materials Inc. declined 6.7% and Lam Research Corp. fell 7.9%.
SK Hynix dropped as much as 10% to trade as low as $139.01, breaking well below the $149 level where the securities were sold on July 9.
In Tokyo, shares of fellow lithography equipment makers Nikon Corp. and Canon Inc. tumbled on Tuesday. Canon, which makes more mature equipment, slid as much as 6.3%, while Nikon, which makes immersion DUVs, fell 9.2% — the two companies’ sharpest declines in more than two months. ASML supplier Lasertec Corp.’s stock price fell as much as 12%.
Investors are highly sensitive to signs that China is making progress in semiconductor manufacturing equipment despite US export controls, particularly in lithography, a market long dominated by ASML.
