Japan chipmaking equipment suppliers report 10% drop in China sales
Japanese semiconductor equipment makers Tokyo Electron, Screen Holdings and Disco saw exports to China fall 10 percent year on year. Chinese local-equivalent development and rising Washington pressure are seen as the main causes. The companies are offsetting the drop with strong sales in South Korea and Taiwan.
Nikkei Asia reported that Japan's chip equipment industry has seen its China sales slide continue. The three major makers Tokyo Electron, Screen Holdings and Disco saw exports to China fall 10 percent year on year in the April-June quarter.
According to Nikkei data, that is the sharpest quarterly contraction in the sector. Chinese customers, including SMIC and YMTC, are reducing their dependence on Japanese equipment as they develop local equivalents. The report also said Washington has been pressing Tokyo to extend export curbs on equipment used for below-14-nanometre nodes.
The companies are offsetting the China shortfall with orders from Samsung and SK Hynix in South Korea, both expanding high-bandwidth memory capacity, and from TSMC's 2-nanometre investment in Taiwan. A Tokyo Electron official said the firm has kept its full-year revenue target. Bloomberg data showed shares of the three companies up 12 to 18 percent over the past three months.
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