A state-backed semiconductor software maker based mostly in Shenzhen, which has connections with Huawei Applied sciences and has raised hopes of China lowering its reliance on US chipmaking applied sciences, will make its debut at a commerce occasion in Shanghai subsequent week.
SiCarrier, a chip software maker backed by the Shenzhen authorities, will launch new merchandise throughout the three-day Semicon China exhibition, an annual business occasion hosted by US-based business affiliation SEMI.
SiCarrier got here below the highlight in 2023 after it was granted a patent for a course of that produced 5-nanometre node chips utilizing present deep ultraviolet lithography (DUV) instruments. The breakthrough was seen as the underlying technology utilized by Huawei to supply a 7-nm chip for its Mate 60 Professional smartphone in 2024, though neither firm has ever publicly commented on the matter.
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Established in 2021, SiCarrier got here into being across the time that Huawei Applied sciences grew to become topic to tighter US tech sanctions by Washington.
Naura Know-how’s sales space at Semicon China in Shanghai final yr. Photograph: Handout alt=Naura Know-how’s sales space at Semicon China in Shanghai final yr. Photograph: Handout>
The beginning-up has maintained a low profile. Its web site lists simply 4 low-tech chip instruments below the title of “semiconductor manufacturing” merchandise, whereas the web page for “information info” is clean. The corporate web site presents no details about the corporate’s possession or senior executives, though it has a “compliance assertion” that pledges to respect third-party mental property rights.
SiCarrier’s official social media account on WeChat this week printed a short agenda for its participation at Semicon China, which runs from March 26 to twenty-eight. It was the one submit on the account. In accordance with the transient assertion, SiCarrier, as “a core semiconductor gear provider”, has at all times dedicated to growth and manufacturing of “superior semiconductor gear” to assist allow China’s chip business.
SiCarrier mentioned it should show a number of key merchandise utilized in semiconductor wafer fabrication, with every one utilizing a code title from a well-known mountain. They embrace the Emei mountain epitaxial merchandise, Wuyi mountain etching programs, Changbai mountain chemical vapour deposition (CVD) gear, Putuoshan mountain bodily vapour deposition (PVD) gear, and atomic layer deposition instruments named after the Alishan mountain vary in Taiwan.
The announcement instantly caught the eye of Chinese language chip gear insiders because it was the primary time that SiCarrier has come out from the shadows, becoming a member of different Chinese language home chip software firms like Naura Know-how Group and Superior Micro-Fabrication Gear, that are additionally making regular progress in self-sufficiency.
It’s unknown whether or not SiCarrier’s showcased merchandise will display any key breakthroughs, however in an effort to woo new clients the corporate has give you a slogan that actually interprets as “on this planet of chips, there is a new alternative, and that is SiCarrier”.
An govt from SiCarrier is scheduled to ship a 20-minute presentation on “alternatives and challenges for semiconductor processing gear” on the commerce occasion subsequent Thursday.
The 2025 version of Semicon China, which has been a key discussion board for China’s chip gear and supplies business for the reason that early Nineties, is going on at a time when China is dealing with tightened US restrictions on its entry to superior chips and instruments over Washington’s considerations that US core tech might be used to modernise the Chinese language army.
Guests stroll previous the Shanghai Micro Electronics Gear (SMEE) sales space throughout Semicon China in 2023. Photograph: Reuters alt=Guests stroll previous the Shanghai Micro Electronics Gear (SMEE) sales space throughout Semicon China in 2023. Photograph: Reuters>
Chen Nanxiang, head of China’s high reminiscence chipmaker Yangtze Memory Technologies Corporation (YMTC) and chairman of the China Semiconductor Trade Affiliation, and Bai Peng, president of Hua Hong Semiconductor, China’s second-largest chip foundry, are additionally anticipated to be audio system on the present.
US-based firms, together with chip gear maker Lam Analysis and chip design software program provider Siemens EDA, are additionally anticipated to participate.
Lam Analysis will share how the corporate’s applied sciences are used within the areas of superior packaging, built-in circuit design and compound semiconductors, in line with the Lam Analysis account on Chinese language social media WeChat on Thursday.
This text initially appeared within the South China Morning Post (SCMP), essentially the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for greater than a century. For extra SCMP tales, please discover the SCMP app or go to the SCMP’s Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2025 South China Morning Put up Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
Copyright (c) 2025. South China Morning Put up Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
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