YMTC urged fairness in chip industry ahead of imminent rumored export ban

As the US and Dutch governments reportedly plan to announce fresh restrict measures against China on semiconductor equipment, China-based memory manufacturer Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC) echoed the remarks by TSMC founder Morris Chang, saying that globalization was dead.

Reuters and Nikkei Asia reported that Chen Nanxiang, chairman and acting CEO of China's top NAND provider, said in a keynote speech at SEMICON China held in Shanghai that globalization is dead, and government interventions play a significant role in shaping this new era. He further said that the global semiconductor industry would enter a time of turmoil and disorder as all the existing rules, harmony, and balance in the past were broken.

Chen's remarks echoed that of TSMC founder Morris Chang in March when Chang said that in the chip sector, globalization is dead, heralding an era in which there would be a bifurcation in the supply chain between China and outside China.

YMTC, a company that the US government has blacklisted to restrict its ability to acquire advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment, unveiled its flagship 232-layer 3D NAND in April, taking on giants like Samsung Electronics and Kioxia.

Meanwhile, after the US government implemented export controls to restrict China from developing advanced computing and acquiring leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing equipment in October 2022, China's imports of semiconductors equipment (excluding those for producing wafers and displays) have been falling for eight consecutive months, down from US$1,647.68 million in September to US$1,366.72 million in May. Global semiconductor manufacturing equipment grew by only 9.47% year-on-year in 2022 after expanding at an annualized growth rate of 47% in 2021.

Reuters in an exclusive report quoted sources saying that the US will utilize its extensive influence to further restrict the supply of Dutch equipment to specific Chinese fabs, and new measures are expected to be announced on June 30.

Nikkei Asia quoted Chen urging global equipment makers to follow principles of fairness and integrity, adding that YMTC legally placed orders and bought production equipment but lost access to it.

Source: China Customs, June 2023