Major chip equipment suppliers have suspended sales and services to semiconductor manufacturers in China, as new US export controls disrupt China’s technology industry and global corporate operations.
Lam Research, Applied Materials and KLA Corporation, US companies with dominant shares in certain sectors of the semiconductor manufacturing process, have taken immediate measures to comply with the new rules, according to several people with direct knowledge of the matter.
ASML, the world’s leading chip maker based in the Netherlands, has asked its US employees to stop serving all Chinese customers while it assesses the sanctions.
The new restrictions ban the export of US semiconductor equipment to China that no foreign competitor can supply. It also imposes a licensing requirement for the export of US tools or components to China-based manufacturing plants, or FAP, which make advanced chips, and for exports of items used to develop domestic Chinese chip production equipment.
They also require any US citizen or entity to obtain permission from the Ministry of Commerce to provide support to the Chinese FAB.
On Tuesday, LAM Research began pulling support staff from China’s chip makers, including memory chip maker Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp. It has asked employees to “stay away from fabs in China for the time being,” said a LAM employee who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.
LAM has also suspended pre-sale negotiations with Chinese customers and withdrawn personnel involved in building the new fab in China, according to two employees with direct knowledge.
Read more: Chof360
