How the ASML China EUV saga points to tougher reality for country’s chip sector - South China Morning Post

The recent controversy over ASML's denial of possible EUV lithography shipments to China highlights the tough reality facing China's semiconductor industry. Despite ASML's categorical denial, the inci... Read original →

The ASML EUV blockade has triggered systemic technological regression in China’s semiconductor manufacturing. With EUV entirely off-limits and DUV access tightening, foundries like SMIC are resorting to multi-patterning DUV—a costly workaround that degrades yield and impedes co-optimization with advanced packaging like 3D stacking. Compliance risk now translates into fixed supply chain costs: even legacy tools face retroactive sanctions under U.S. Foreign Direct Product Rules. TSMC and Samsung are exploiting this gap to accelerate sub-2nm roadmaps, widening the performance chasm. Over the next 18 months, China’s chip sector will likely enter a negative feedback loop—aging equipment, stalled nodes, and design compromises—unless domestic lithography achieves reliable DUV production at 28nm, a threshold essential for meaningful high-end self-reliance.