Yin Zhiyao: Most of China Micro's etching equipment components have been domestically produced!

On March 19, Yin Zhiyao, chairman and general manager of China Microelectronics Corporation, a major domestic semiconductor equipment manufacturer, said at the 2023 annual performance briefing that most of the components of Microelectronics' etching equipment have been domestically produced, and in a very short time Within a certain period of time, the foundation of independent control will be fully realized.

Under the current international situation where the import of related semiconductor equipment and parts is restricted, the substitution of related imported parts has become an important issue for the development of Sinomicron.

At the performance briefing of last year's semi-annual report, Yin Zhiyao said that since the United States strengthened export controls in October last year to cut off the connection between Chinese manufacturing plants and American advanced tools, Chinese customers have accelerated the adoption of AMEC's ​​etching equipment.

Affected by this, AMEC's ​​market share in the capacitively coupled plasma (CCP) etching equipment market is expected to increase from 24% in October 2022 to 60% in June 2023. As for the inductively coupled plasma (ICP) equipment market, after the once-dominated U.S. Lam Semiconductor's market share has dropped significantly, AMEC's ​​market share may rise from almost zero to 75%.

Yin Zhiyao predicted at that time that 80% of China Micro's restricted imported parts could be replaced domestically by the end of 2023, and 100% replacement would be achieved in the second half of 2024.

Judging from the time progress, in just over half a year, most of the etching equipment components of AMEC have been domestically produced, which is extremely fast! It should be pointed out that this "caliber" includes not only " restricted imported parts ", but also includes unrestricted imported parts. This also means that the degree of localization and controllability of China's micro-etching equipment has been greatly improved.

Net profit surges 52.67% year-on-year in 2023

On the evening of March 18, China Microwave Corporation released its 2023 annual report stating that its operating income in 2023 would be 6.264 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 32.15%. It should be pointed out that the company's average annual operating income growth rate over ten years from 2012 to 2023 has exceeded 35%. The company achieved net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies of 1.786 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 52.67%.

Regarding the growth of performance, China Microwave Company stated that revenue growth and gross profit will remain at a high level in 2023, and the company's net profit attributable to the parent after deducting non-profit items will increase by approximately 272 million yuan compared with the same period last year. In addition, non-recurring gains and losses were approximately 594 million yuan, an increase of approximately 344 million yuan from 250 million yuan in the previous year. The change in non-recurring gains and losses was mainly due to the company selling part of its shares in Tuojing Technology Co., Ltd. in 2023, resulting in an after-tax net income of approximately 406 million yuan.

From the perspective of revenue structure, Micron etching equipment sales in 2023 will be approximately 4.703 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of approximately 49.43%; MOCVD (Metal Organic Compound Chemical Vapor Deposition) equipment sales will be approximately 462 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of approximately 33.95%.

In terms of orders, the value of new orders from China Microsystems in 2023 is approximately 8.36 billion yuan, an increase of approximately 2.04 billion yuan from the 6.32 billion yuan in new orders in 2022, and a year-on-year increase of approximately 32.3%. Among them, new orders for etching equipment are approximately 6.95 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of approximately 60.1%; since AMEC’s MOCVD equipment already occupies the absolute leading market share in blue-green LED production lines, affected by terminal market fluctuations, orders in 2023 will increase year-on-year. dropped by approximately 72.2%.

The future of the semiconductor industry, manufacturing equipment is key

AMEC believes that "manufacturing equipment is the key to the future of the semiconductor industry." Without equipment such as photolithography machines, plasma etching machines, and thin film deposition that can process micron and nanometer scales, it would be impossible to manufacture integrated circuits and microscopic devices. . As microscopic devices become smaller and smaller and their structures become more complex, the extreme importance of semiconductor equipment becomes even more prominent.

Wafer manufacturing equipment can be divided into categories such as etching, thin film deposition, photolithography, detection, and ion doping. Among them, etching equipment, thin film deposition, and photolithography equipment are the three most important types of equipment in the front-end production process of integrated circuits. According to Gartner statistics over the years, global etching equipment and thin film deposition equipment account for approximately 22% and 23% of the value of wafer manufacturing equipment respectively.

With the advancement of integrated circuit chip manufacturing processes, the critical dimensions of line width continue to shrink, chip structures become 3D, and wafer manufacturing is developing towards 5 nanometer and more advanced processes. Since the current photolithography machines used in advanced process chip processing are limited by wavelength, the processing of microstructures of logic devices of 14 nanometers and below is mostly achieved through a combination of plasma etching and thin film deposition processes - a multi-template process, making etching, etc. The processing steps of related equipment increase. As memory technology shifts from two-dimensional to three-dimensional architecture, as the number of stacked layers increases, etching equipment and thin film deposition equipment increasingly become key core equipment.

In terms of MOCVD equipment, China Microelectronics Corporation said that the market for III-V compound semiconductor devices, such as LEDs, gallium nitride and silicon carbide power devices used in lighting and displays, is developing rapidly. The MOCVD equipment required for these devices is the most important key equipment. Different from the manufacturing process of integrated circuits, which requires many types of equipment and multi-step cycles, manufacturing III-V compound devices mainly relies on MOCVD equipment, and most of the market for this equipment is in China.

In recent years, the rapid development of China's LED chip industry has driven the rapid growth in demand for MOCVD equipment, which is the core equipment of the industry. The company's MOCVD equipment already occupies the absolute leading market share in the blue-green LED production line. During the reporting period (2023), the company's MOCVD equipment sales declined due to fluctuations in the terminal market.

In addition, the company has achieved remarkable results in new product development. Four of the newly developed LPCVD equipment and ALD equipment in the past two years have entered the market, three of which have been certified by customers and have begun to receive repeat orders. ; The company's newly developed silicon and silicon germanium epitaxial EPI equipment, wafer edge Bevel etching equipment and other new products will also be put into market verification in the near future. The company has also made good progress in developing various types of MOCVD equipment required for silicon carbide power devices, gallium nitride power devices, Micro-LED and other devices, and will gradually enter the market in 2024.

In terms of production layout, the company's production and R&D base of approximately 140,000 square meters in Nanchang has been officially put into use, and some production plants of the production and R&D base of approximately 180,000 square meters in Lingang, Shanghai have been put into use, supporting the company's rapid sales growth. achieved. The company continues to develop key parts suppliers to promote the stability and security of the supply chain. The equipment delivery rate remains at a high level. The timely delivery of equipment also provides strong support for the company's sales growth.