International semiconductor firms – including ASML, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Qualcomm – have put the spotlight on some of their latest products at a major trade fair in Shanghai this week, in a fresh sign of their commitment to China in spite of mounting US sanctions on the country.
They joined about 400 other companies at the Intelligent Industry & Information Technology exhibition, as part of this year’s China International Import Expo (CIIE) event. The six-day trade show will conclude on Sunday.
Taking part in the CIIE reflects how these foreign semiconductor technology vendors see the world’s second-largest economy as a vast market for their products and services, according to participants, despite tensions between Washington and Beijing.
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“This marks our sixth participation in CIIE,” ASML executive vice-president Shen Bo, who serves as the Dutch chipmaking equipment vendor’s country manager for China, said on Monday. “This annual event continuously demonstrates China’s commitment to openness and collaboration, aligning perfectly with ASML’s corporate culture.”
ASML is the world’s largest supplier of advanced lithography systems used to manufacture semiconductors. Photo: Shutterstock alt=ASML is the world’s largest supplier of advanced lithography systems used to manufacture semiconductors. Photo: Shutterstock>
ASML, which dominates the global market for advanced lithography systems used to make chips, did not display any of its large machines at the exhibition area. But that did not prevent a large number of people to crowd its booth on Wednesday.
The Dutch firm, instead, provided various product information for its lithography solutions, including three deep ultraviolet systems – the NXT:1470, NXT:870 and XT:260. The NXT:1470 was highlighted as ASML’s first “dry NXT system”, capable of producing more than 300 wafers per hour.
Meanwhile, AMD – Nvidia‘s rival in the global market for graphics processing units used in video gaming and artificial intelligence (AI) development projects – is taking part in the CIIE trade show for the fourth time. The US company exhibited various AI infrastructure products and solutions, while Nvidia skipped the event.
“CIIE provides a high-level international platform for us to showcase our broad range of end-to-end AI solutions and applications with our ecosystem partners,” said AMD senior vice-president Spencer Pan, who serves as the firm’s president for Greater China. “Through expanded cooperation with Chinese partners, we are accelerating digital transformation and industrial upgrade [on the mainland].”
