The irresistible whispers about China’s semiconductor progress

From the backwaters of the internet, a rumor has emerged that China’s Huawei and SMIC have developed an EUV scanner using a different light source technology than employed by ASML. The system is said to enter trial production in Q3 2025, with mass production scheduled for 2026.

Given the known capabilities of China’s domestic semiconductor ecosystem, that claim is highly unlikely to materialize. As far as public knowledge is concerned, no Chinese firm has cracked dry ArF lithography, let alone immersion. These types of systems are much less complex than an EUV tool.