"Eventually they are aiming for the plants to use 100% domestic equipment." China's largest chip equipment group, Naura, is testing its etching tools on a cutting-edge 7nm (nanometre) production line of SMIC, two sources said. The early-stage milestone, which comes after Naura recently deployed etching tools on 14nm successfully, demonstrates how quickly domestic suppliers are advancing. Naura has also proven a key partner for Chinese memory chipmakers, supplying etching tools for advanced chips with more than 300 layers. "The domestic equipment market will be dominated by two to three major manufacturers, and Naura is definitely one of them," said a separate source.

Source: The Telegraph December 30, 2025 10:38 UTC