China gets closer to homegrown 28nm process

Tom's Hardware reports China is on track to develop 28nm semiconductor manufacturing technology that does not rely on US or European devices. Shanghai Micro Electronic Equipment (SMEE) expects it will be able to ship its second-gen deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography scanner in Q4 2021, this equipment will be capable of manufacturing 28nm chips. It's not exactly cutting-edge equipment, it's over a decade behind the number one supplier of lithography tools, but it's a demonstration that China can make its chip industry self-sufficient. The lithography scanner does feature some Japanese technology so it's not 100% homegrown yet.

The tool can produce chips using 28 nm process technologies and relies on components produced in China and Japan. Therefore, the tool does not rely on devices made in the USA, which is increasingly important amid the ongoing trade war between China and the U.S that has found the US barring China-based companies from purchasing some types of chip fabrication equipment.

There are a number of fairly competitive producers of semiconductors in China that make chips developed in the country using fabrication technologies designed in Tianxia. But all of these companies use production equipment developed and made in other countries, such as Japan, the Netherlands, and the U.S.