Huawei drives China’s push to make advanced chips
Reported: Huawei is orchestrating a domestic DUV lithography push — investing across the supply chain and helping place gear into fabs such as SMIC — to cut reliance on foreign (esp. ASML) kit under export controls. Yuliangsheng (spun from SiCarrier; Huawei denies SiCarrier affiliation) co-developed China’s first advanced DUV; tested at SMIC and on Huawei lines, initially on less complex chips en route to AI targets; aims for 12 machines by end-2026. Still far from ASML productivity. Bottlenecks: projection lenses and high-power light sources among ~12 component groups. Huawei Habo and Yuanzhi Xinghuo backed optics rival Fujian Zhiqi (Rmb100mn/~$15mn for 37% in 2023) and light-source firm RSLaser. Zeiss says it only sells lithography optics to ASML; insiders say secondary-market lenses appear in China. Commercial reality: SMIC still relies on ASML; ASML China sales ~1/5 of revenue; CXMT/YMTC stockpiled DUVs for ~3 years. Bernstein: Huawei as “project manager”; US restrictions may accelerate local fab–tool collaboration.
Why it matters
Concrete map of China’s ASML-workaround stack (Yuliangsheng DUV, Zhiqi optics, RSLaser sources) with Huawei as industrial orchestrator — key for export-control scenarios, European deep-tech exposure, and how long the ASML moat holds for advanced AI silicon.
