Tech war: China chip tool firm AMEC’s profit boosted by strong local demand as it reshuffles tech board in wake of US rules
- Shanghai-based AMEC’s net profit rose 114 per cent year-on-year to 1 billion yuan
- AMEC has also undergone a reshuffle of key personnel in the aftermath of the US October export rules
China’s etching equipment giant Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment (AMEC) has reported hefty growth in earnings and revenue in the first half of 2023 thanks to strong demand for local tools as a result of US tech export controls, the company’s founder and CEO Gerald Yin Zhiyao said on Friday.
Shanghai-based AMEC’s net profit rose 114 per cent year-on-year to 1 billion yuan (US$137 million) while revenue increased 28 per cent to 2.53 billion yuan, according to its earnings statement.
Yin said during a conference call with analysts on Friday that Chinese clients have accelerated adoption of AMEC’s etching equipment since last October after the US stepped up export controls aimed at cutting off China-based foundries from advanced US tools.
AMEC’s market share of China’s capacitively coupled plasma (CCP) etching equipment market is expected to reach 60 per cent in the near future from 24 per cent last October, Yin said. In the inductive coupled plasma (ICP) tool market, Yin said its share could rise to 75 per cent from almost zero after once-dominant Lam Research from the US saw its share drop sharply.
CCP and ICP are two main types of AMEC etching equipment, and combined they accounted for roughly 68 per cent of the firm’s total revenue in the first half.
Yin said the upbeat results were achieved as the Chinese mainland chip equipment market shrank 33 per cent year-on-year in the first half, deeper than a 23 per cent decline in the global chip tool market amid headwinds for consumer electronics.