SiCarrier Shakes Up Chip Industry with Major Equipment Reveal at SEMICON 2025, Challenging ASML’s Reign

China’s leading player in chip-making equipment, SiCarrier, recently rolled out an extensive new suite of tools designed to push the boundaries of domestic semiconductor production.

SiCarrier: A Rising Force in China’s Chipmaking Industry

China has witnessed significant strides in its semiconductor sector lately, largely fueled by a national initiative to reduce dependency on foreign technology. Companies like Huawei and SMIC have contributed substantially to these efforts, forging ahead with the establishment of local chip production capabilities. Among these trailblazers, SiCarrier, partially backed by Huawei, emerges as a key player specializing in manufacturing chip-making machinery. The firm showcased its latest equipment lineup at SEMICON 2025 held in China, signaling its determination to advance in the industry.

A tweet from @zephyr_z9 highlighted the comprehensive launch by SiCarrier, showcasing their serious commitment to the field. Their newly published catalog at SEMICON revealed a variety of advanced chip tools, including Rapid Thermal Processing (RTP) systems vital to fabricating semiconductor integrated circuits. The catalog outlined numerous technologies, conspicuously omitting lithography equipment, potentially hinting at strategic plans SiCarrier may be pursuing quietly. These developments aim to rival established industry giants like ASML and others, although the effectiveness of these tools for the domestic market is still in question.

During the exposition, SiCarrier’s President, Du Lijun, stated that their homegrown machines can produce 5nm chips. Nevertheless, without the use of optical technologies, yield rates remain a challenge, which could lead to higher production costs compared to global counterparts. SiCarrier is actively collaborating with SMIC and Huawei to overcome these obstacles, a critical step toward China’s goal of achieving semiconductor self-sufficiency.

The overarching mission of SiCarrier is to shift the global semiconductor landscape, reducing reliance on countries such as the Netherlands, which currently dominates the chip-making tool market. Recent reports have suggested that SiCarrier is working alongside Huawei and the Shenzhen government on custom EUV prototypes centered around laser-induced discharge plasma (LDP). This initiative marks an essential move toward developing China’s own EUV lithography tools, which is considered a significant hurdle in producing state-of-the-art technology nodes.