China's Naura climbs the ranks of world's top chipmaking equipment suppliers
Naura Technology Group climbed up in the rankings of the world's biggest semiconductor equipment suppliers in 2024, as China's leading chip tool maker braced for tighter US tech restrictions.
Beijing-based Naura was ranked sixth among global chipmaking equipment suppliers by revenue last year, up from eighth place in 2023 when it cracked the industry's top-10 leaderboard for the first time, according to a report last week by Chinese semiconductor research firm CINNO.
The state-backed company, which is expected to post about a 40 per cent increase in 2024 sales, was the only Chinese firm among the world's top-10 chipmaking equipment vendors, according to CINNO data. Dutch giant ASML Holding topped the table, followed by US companies Applied Materials and Lam Research.
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The combined 2024 revenue of the top 10 global chipmaking equipment suppliers rose 10 per cent to about US$110 billion from a year earlier, the CINNO report showed.
Naura's ascent reflects Beijing's push for greater self-reliance in core technologies, including semiconductors, amid tightened trade restrictions imposed by Washington and heightened tensions between the world's two largest economies.
Naura Technology Group's PSE V300 deep silicon etching machine. Photo: Naura alt=Naura Technology Group's PSE V300 deep silicon etching machine. Photo: Naura>
Shenzhen-listed Naura's shares closed slightly down at 442.80 yuan (US$61) on Wednesday.
Naura forecast total 2024 sales to grow between 25 per cent and 44 per cent to reach 27.6 billion yuan to 31.8 billion yuan, driven by product breakthroughs and expanded market share, the company said in a filing in January.
It also expected a 33 per cent to 53 per cent jump in net income up to around 5.95 billion yuan.
Naura faces increased pressure after the company and 140 other Chinese organisations were added to Washington's so-called Entity List in December over national security concerns.
According to the US Commerce Department, the move would further impair China's ability to make advanced-node semiconductors that can be used in technologies with military applications.
At the time, Naura downplayed the impact of its blacklisting by the US, asserting that the situation would not have a material impact on the company's business.
The US government, however, announced new trade regulations in January to fortify tech restrictions on China. These rules would completely block the export of artificial-intelligence chips and related technologies to Chinese enterprises.
Global chipmaking equipment market leader ASML, meanwhile, plans to upgrade its "reuse-and-repair" centre in Beijing this year, according to the firm's annual report published this month. Mainland China was ASML's largest market, which accounted for 36.1 per cent of its total sales in 2024, overtaking Taiwan for the first time, the report said.
This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2025 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
Copyright (c) 2025. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
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