I'm outside the business and do not really understand how it works but I just wonder since the west doesn't give the latest machine to China, why bother build so many factories if you don't have the needed machines? Or those factories will be running old/outdated machines?
The market isn't only of the newest and latest chips, chips of 'lower grade' is also quite widely used (believe it's actually a bigger share of the market).
Mature nodes above 10 nm dwarfs the sub 10 nm market. The CPU isn’t the only chip in your phone .
I think they are expanding with non US equipment here two recent tenders won by non US companies for Jinhua.
@SteelBird bro like you I'm mystified, why build so many FABS especially from 2019 onwards? from my understanding ASML had an ironclad agreement with SMIC (and they extend it until the end of 2022) and may have use Gigaphoton instead of Cymer as suggested by @hvpc to escape possible sanction. And there is another more plausible explanation, the success of SMEE SSA800 DUVL, yup people always say I'm gullible BUT I have a premonition and usually it always come true.
Besides what is discussed here the Russians do have a small semi tools industry. But I think they would be better off buying Chinese tools to be honest.
There a more like a few "known" companies making subsystems for SMEE, supported by big backers with experience in the industry, and that is without taking into account research institutes like Tsinghua, Zhejiang, Harbin and so on. So is when you start connecting the recent patents, news, research is when you start to see the real magnitude of this project. SMEE is just an integrator.
EUV is just research by a dozen Chinese institutes developing different parts, the evidence support that neither SMEE or their subsystems-parts suppliers is involved in that project for now, looks like they have most of their resources into immersion.
@tokenanalyst And thanks for your hard work bro, you had done a lot, really appreciated, I have nothing against @hvpc , in fact I'm grateful cause it had broaden my horizon and had enriched this forum. The reason for the delay of mass producing the SSA800 DUVL as posted by @Oldschool , since it had just finished its verification, The subsystem/component providers are gearing up its factory to mass produced it, the 12 units to be produce this year is a conservative figure, it may go up depending on how fast they're able to expand. And From @WTAN were he posted that the crucial Uprecision new dual bench factory will be finished by 2023. So expect the production of SSA800 to double in 2023 and triple in 2024 and maybe that same year a speculation on my part, the debut of the mythical SSA900 22nm DUVL (comparable to ASML NXT 2050i)