Chinese manufacturers of equipment for the release of chips set sales records

China’s largest semiconductor equipment manufacturers Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment (AMEC), Naura Technologies and ACM Research have published preliminary financial results for 2024. They showed significant revenue growth, improved production capabilities and increased investment in research and development, TrendForce analysts noted.

Image source: amec-inc.com

In China, the demand for equipment for the production of chips is growing; The country has achieved significant success in the development of such equipment. AMEC, ACM and Naura are developing very quickly, releasing commercially viable tools for the production of microcircuits. AMEC and Naura specialize in tools for etching and chemical precipitation from the steam phase (CVD); ACM is engaged in equipment for cleaning, polishing, electrochemical coating and plasma CVD. Chinese manufacturers produce fairly advanced equipment, although it is inferior to the products of market leaders, including Applied Materials, Kla, Lam Research and Tokyo Electron. But this equipment is cheaper, and foreign governments cannot limit its sales to Chinese manufacturers of semiconductors. New plants appear in China dozens, and all of them need equipment.

According to AMEC, its revenue according to the results of 2024 will amount to 9.065 billion yuan ($ 1.244 billion), which is 44.73 % more than a year earlier. Sales of etching equipment for etching reached 7.276 billion yuan ($ 999 million), which corresponds to an annual growth of 54.71 %. Last year, the company put its first commercial equipment for LPCVD thinning coatings in the amount of 156 million yuan ($ 21.42 million). Net profit will be from 1.5 billion to 1.7 billion yuan (from $ 205.96 million to $ 233.42 million), which is lower by 4.81–16.01 % due to an increase in research and development costs, as well as a one -time sale of shares in 2023. By deducting one -time articles, net profit will be from 1.28 billion to 1.43 billion yuan (from $ 176.76 million to $ 196.36 million), which is 7.43–20.02 % more than a year earlier. This year, AMEC intends to create a subsidiary of AMEC Semiconductor Equipment in the high technology zone. The new enterprise will become a research and production base for the equipment of CVD and atomic-layer precipitation (ALD). From 2025 to 2030, the project will require investment in the amount of about 3.05 billion yuan ($ 427 million).

Image source: acmr.com

Formally, ACM Research is not a Chinese company, but a public semiconductor company headquartered in the United States. However, a significant portion of its activities, including research, development, manufacturing, sales and support, are carried out in China through its subsidiary ACM Research, headquartered in Shanghai. According to the company’s own estimates, its revenue for 2024 will range from 5.6 billion to 5.88 billion yuan ($769 million to $807.42 million), which corresponds to an increase of 44.02–51.22%. The key to success was the recovery of the global semiconductor market and high domestic demand. In 2025, the company’s revenue is expected to range from 6.5 billion to 7.1 billion yuan ($892.56 million to $974.87 million) due to strong order volume.

The revenue of the Naura Technology Group, according to its estimates, will be from 27.6 billion to 31.78 billion yuan (from $ 3.79 billion to $ 4.363 billion), which corresponds to an annual growth of 25–43.93 %. The predicted net profit will be from 5.17 billion to 5.89 billion yuan (from $ 709.8 million to $ 816.93 million), which is 42.96–64.46 % more than a year earlier. The company achieved such results, having deployed its etching plasma -plasma systems on customer production lines (CCP), plasma CVD (PECVD) systems, ALD vertical furnaces and other equipment.