Chinese semiconductor production equipment makers set sales records

Leading Chinese semiconductor equipment makers Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment (AMEC), Naura Technologies, and ACM Research, recently released their preliminary 2024 financial results. The results revealed significant revenue growth, increased investments in research and development, and advancements in production capabilities, according to TrendForce. The reports highlight a growing demand for chipmaking tools in China as well as strides in the domestic development of such tools. 

AMEC, ACM, and Naura are rapidly growing companies producing commercially viable chipmaking tools. AMEC and Naura specialize in etching and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) tools, whereas ACM produces equipment for cleaning, polishing, electrochemical plating, and plasma-enhanced CVD. While tools made by these companies are advanced enough, they lag behind those made by market leaders Applied Materials, KLA, Lam Research, and Tokyo Electron. However, they are also cheaper, and no foreign government can curb their sales to Chinese chipmakers, which has boosted their sales to domestic chipmakers in recent years. Another reason AMEC, ACM, and Naura have managed to increase their sales is that dozens of new fabs are coming online in China, and all of them need equipment.

AMEC: Sales Up 45%

AMEC estimates that its revenue for 2024 will total ¥9.065 billion ($1.244 billion), an increase of 44.73% compared to 2023. The company reported sales of etching equipment worth ¥7.276 billion ($999 million), a rise of 54.71% year-over-year, and shipped its first commercial LPCVD thin film equipment, generating ¥156 million ($21.42 million) in sales. 

When it comes to profitability, not everything is so positive, though. AMEC expects to earn a net profit between ¥1.5 billion ($205.96 million) and ¥1.7 billion ($233.42 million), down 4.81% to 16.01% YoY due to increased R&D spending and the absence of one-time gains from equity sales in 2023. Excluding non-recurring items, the company expects its net profit to be between ¥1.28 billion ($176.76 million) and ¥1.43 billion ($196.36 million), up 7.43% to 20.02% year-over-year. 

This year, AMEC plans to establish a wholly-owned subsidiary, AMEC Semiconductor Equipment (Chengdu), in the Chengdu High-tech Zone. This facility will serve as a research and production base for its chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and atomic layer deposition (ALD) equipment. The project will require a total investment of approximately ¥3.05 billion between 2025 and 2030.

ACM Research: Revenue Up 51%

ACM Research is not a China-based company. Instead, it is a U.S.-based public semiconductor company, but most of its operations — including R&D, production, sales, and support — are conducted in China through its subsidiary, ACM Research (Shanghai). 

ACM Research expects its 2024 revenue to range between ¥5.6 billion ($769 million) and ¥5.88 billion ($807.42 million), reflecting growth of 44.02% to 51.22%. This growth is driven by a recovering global semiconductor market and strong domestic demand. The company’s 2025 revenue is expected to reach ¥6.5 billion ($892.56 million) – ¥7.1 billion ($974.87 million) thanks to its strong order backlog.

 

Naura: Earnings Up 44%

Naura Technology Group anticipates 2024 revenue to be between ¥27.6 billion ($3.79 billion) and ¥31.78 billion ($4.363 billion), reflecting year-on-year growth of 25% to 43.93%. Net profit is forecasted at ¥5.17 billion ($709.8 million) – ¥5.95 billion ($816.93 million), an increase of 32.6% to 52.6%. Excluding non-recurring items, net profit is projected to reach ¥5.12 billion ($703 million) – ¥5.89 billion ($808.6 million), representing growth of 42.96% to 64.46%. 

Naura’s success is attributed to the integration of its capacitively coupled plasma (CCP) etching systems, plasma-enhanced CVD (PECVD) systems, and ALD vertical furnaces into customer production lines, resulting in large-scale adoption. Additionally, the company has introduced high-density plasma CVD, dual-damascene CCP etchers, and high-k dielectric ALD systems.