China’s purchases of machines to make computer chips last month fell to their lowest level in more than two years, hammered by cratering electronics demand and new US export restrictions that are limiting the ability of Chinese firms to buy the most advanced equipment.
Chinese firms imported US$2.3 billion of machines used in semiconductor manufacturing last month, down by more than 40 percent from a year earlier to the lowest level since May 2020, according to customs data released on Wednesday.
Imports from the six major supplying nations, including the US, Japan and the Netherlands, all fell at a double-digit pace in the month, even before some of those nations agreed to join the US in further limiting shipments of the most advanced gear to China.
Photo: Reuters
Imports of computer chips also fell as makers of semiconductors for smartphones and PCs struggle with plummeting demand for their products less than a year after being unable to produce enough to meet orders.
The US sanctions announced in October have caused major foreign firms to limit or cease the supply to Chinese companies of equipment to make the most advanced chips, although machines used to make older and slower chips can still be shipped.
The US is negotiating with the Dutch and Japanese governments to convince them to join its unilateral sanctions, with people with knowledge of those talks telling Bloomberg that they are likely to adopt at least some of the sweeping measures of the US.
The three-country alliance would represent a near-total blockade of China’s ability to buy the equipment necessary to make leading-edge chips.
The US rules restricted the supply from US suppliers Applied Materials Inc, Lam Research Corp and KLA Corp.
Japan’s Tokyo Electron Ltd and Dutch lithography specialist ASML Holding NV are the two other critical suppliers that the US needs to make the sanctions effective, so if their governments adopt the curbs too, it would be a significant victory in the US attempt to cripple the development of China’s semiconductor industry.
China has filed a complaint with the WTO to try and overturn the export controls, although any decision on that would likely take years to be decided.
The trade data also showed that China’s purchases of computer chips were down by about 26 percent last month for a 2 percent decline in the first 11 months of this year.
Chinese demand for chips has been weak this year due to supply chain disruptions, a slowing domestic economy and falling demand globally for products such as smartphones.
NEW IDENTITY: Known for its software, India has expanded into hardware, with its semiconductor industry growing from US$38bn in 2023 to US$45bn to US$50bn India on Saturday inaugurated its first semiconductor assembly and test facility, a milestone in the government’s push to reduce dependence on foreign chipmakers and stake a claim in a sector dominated by China. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened US firm Micron Technology Inc’s semiconductor assembly, test and packaging unit in his home state of Gujarat, hailing the “dawn of a new era” for India’s technology ambitions. “When young Indians look back in the future, they will see this decade as the turning point in our tech future,” Modi told the event, which was broadcast on his YouTube channel. The plant would convert
Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) yesterday said the DRAM supply crunch could extend through 2028, as the artificial intelligence (AI) boom has led the world’s major memory makers to dramatically reduce production of standard DRAM and allocate a significant portion of their capacity for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips. The most severe supply constraints would stretch to the first half of next year due to “very limited” increases in new DRAM capacity worldwide, Nanya Technology president Lee Pei-ing (李培瑛) told a news briefing. The company plans to increase monthly 12-inch wafer capacity to 20,000 in the first half of 2028 after a
Property transactions in the nation’s six special municipalities plunged last month, as a lengthy Lunar New Year holiday combined with ongoing credit tightening dampened housing market activity, data compiled by local land administration offices released on Monday showed. The six cities recorded a total of 10,480 property transfers last month, down 42.5 percent from January and marking the second-lowest monthly level on record, the data showed. “The sharp drop largely reflected seasonal factors and tighter credit conditions,” Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房屋) deputy research manager Chen Chin-ping (陳金萍) said. The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday fell in February this year, reducing
New vehicle sales in Taiwan plunged about 37 percent sequentially last month as the long Lunar New Year holiday and 228 Peace Memorial Day holiday cut short the number of working days, along with the lingering uncertainty over import tax cuts on US vehicles, market researcher U-Car said in a report yesterday. New car sales last month totaled 22,043, slumping from 35,073 units in January and down 19.89 percent from 37,515 in February last year, U-Car data showed. Sales of imported luxury cars, led by Mercedes-Benz, plummeted about 45 percent to 3,109 units last month from 5,663 units in the previous month,
RSS