[News] China’s AMEC Reportedly Produces Some of the Most Advanced Etching Tools; SMIC Purchased 800+ Machines

China’s semiconductor equipment ambitions are gaining ground, with AMEC reportedly capable of producing some of the world’s most advanced chipmaking tools. Founder Gerald Yin Zhiyao said in an interview with state broadcaster CCTV that the company’s plasma etching technology has become an industry standard adopted by major global companies, according to South China Morning Post.

Gerald Yin Zhiyao also set an ambitious goal of covering more than 60% of high-end critical equipment for integrated circuits and over 70% of advanced packaging equipment within the next five years, according to Commercial Times.

Notably, during the same CCTV interview, Zhang Rujing, founder of China’s largest foundry SMIC, said the company has purchased at least 800 machines from AMEC, as South China Morning Post indicates.

AMEC Expands Advanced Tool Capabilities Amid Localization Drive

AMEC’s etching systems reportedly support nodes ranging from mature 65nm chips to advanced 5nm and 3nm technologies, with some products used within TSMC’s supply chain, South China Morning Post notes. Meanwhile, its MOCVD business, which produces high-precision equipment used to deposit thin crystalline layers onto semiconductor wafers, has gained notable global market share in recent years. The company has also developed domestic alternatives across 17 categories of semiconductor manufacturing equipment previously dominated by foreign competitors.

One of AMEC’s key breakthroughs was the in-house development of very high frequency (VHF) decoupled reactive ion etching technology, which reportedly overcame the longstanding tradeoff between precision and efficiency in etching tools while significantly improving plasma control accuracy, according to EE Times China. The company claimed that leading international equipment makers shifted to the same technological approach three years later, the report adds.

Still, despite rapid progress and growing localization efforts, Chinese equipment makers continue to trail U.S., Japanese, and Dutch rivals in certain advanced lithography and semiconductor process technologies, South China Morning Post notes.

AMEC Posts Strong Growth, Accelerates Capacity Expansion

Amid rising demand, AMEC’s financial results showed first-quarter 2026 revenue rose 34.13% YoY to RMB 2.915 billion, while net profit surged 197.2% to RMB 930 million. R&D spending increased 32.15% YoY to RMB 908 million, accounting for 31.14% of revenue. The company said growth was mainly driven by higher shipments of etching equipment for advanced logic and memory processes, alongside some high-end products entering mass production, according to Commercial Times.

AMEC is also accelerating capacity expansion. Its roughly 180,000-square-meter R&D and manufacturing base in Shanghai’s Lingang area began operations in August 2024, while construction of a second-phase Lingang site covering around 200,000 square meters is expected to begin in the second half of 2026, Commercial Times notes. New bases in Chengdu and Guangzhou are also under construction, with the company’s total factory space in mainland China projected to reach 850,000 square meters.

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(Photo credit: AMEC)