Explore SEMICON 2026 and discover the highlights of the domestic equipment industry chain.
From March 25th to 27th, SEMICON China 2026 was held at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre. As the leading semiconductor industry event in the Asia - Pacific region, this year's exhibition attracted over 1,500 exhibitors and 180,000 professional visitors. The theme of the exhibition was "Cross - border Globally, Connecting Hearts and Chips". However, after visiting the exhibition halls, it's not hard to find that the collective appearance and technology implementation of domestic semiconductor equipment industry chain enterprises have become the most concerned content in the industry at this exhibition. A more hidden narrative line is emerging - the Chinese semiconductor equipment industry chain is moving from "single - point breakthrough" to "network - like coverage".
In the past few years, "breakthroughs in lithography machines" and "mass production of advanced processes" have been in the spotlight. However, what truly supports the full - process implementation of chips from design to mass production is not limited to these. It also includes test and measurement instruments for R & D verification, core equipment such as etching and deposition in the mass - production stage, bonding equipment in the packaging stage, and key components that support the stable operation of the equipment. More than 90% of these tools used to rely on imports. At this exhibition, a group of domestic enterprises announced their technological achievements collectively, indicating that this situation is changing.
01 Test and Measurement, the "Eyes" of Chip R & D
In the semiconductor industry chain, test and measurement instruments and equipment are the "eyes" of chip R & D. At SEMICON China 2026, a group of domestic test and measurement enterprises are demonstrating their breakthroughs.
The performance and function verification before chip design tape - out highly depend on high - end electronic test and measurement instruments. This field has long been monopolized by international giants such as Keysight Technologies. More importantly, the delivery cycle and after - sales service of high - end equipment are often subject to external constraints.
At this exhibition, Wanliyan not only displayed the previously launched 90GHz ExWave TS series of high - speed real - time oscilloscopes but also released a brand - new 110GHz spectrum analyzer. The core breakthroughs of the 110GHz spectrum analyzer unveiled this time are concentrated in two key indicators - higher frequency capability and wider analysis bandwidth. Thanks to continuous breakthroughs in high - frequency engineering processes and serialized chip sets, Wanliyan's spectrum analyzer not only achieves coaxial continuous coverage from 2Hz to 110GHz but also breaks the inherent constraint of "the higher the frequency, the worse the performance", achieving positive gains in terms of higher frequency, wider available analysis bandwidth, and better measurement dynamic performance. It lays a solid measurement foundation for the R & D of high - frequency communication, sensing, and core devices. The 110GHz spectrum analyzer of Wanliyan has an 8.4GHz ultra - large analysis bandwidth and the industry's highest 2GHz real - time analysis bandwidth, which is nearly 400% higher than the Wassenaar Arrangement export control level. It is particularly crucial for the analysis of 5G large - bandwidth modulation signals, 6G communication, and transient signals in complex electromagnetic environments.
After chip manufacturing is completed, the yield control, function, and reliability verification at the mass - production end cannot be achieved without the support of automatic test equipment (ATE). This field has long been monopolized by two international manufacturers, Advantest and Teradyne, and the localization process has long been difficult to achieve substantial breakthroughs. With the concentrated explosion of domestic demand for semiconductor equipment in the domestic chip industry, domestic ATE manufacturers have risen rapidly and achieved key breakthroughs.
Changchuan Technology brought two digital test machines, the D9016 - P16 and the D9016 - P08. Among them, the D9016 - P16 supports a maximum of 4,096 digital I/O channels, targeting complex application scenarios that require high density, high precision, and high parallel test numbers. It has the characteristics of flexible machine configuration, test efficiency and parallel test efficiency comparable to foreign high - end SoC test machines, and mature software debugging tools. Since 2021, it has been widely used in the large - scale mass production of complex SoC chips. It is suitable for the mass - production testing of chips such as network processors, digital baseband processors, mobile phone PMICs, network processors, high - end microprocessors, storage controllers, audio and video processors.
Yuexin Technology brought the memory chip test system TM8000. The system can be configured with a maximum of 32 digital channel boards, with up to 10,240 channels (IO/DR) on the digital channel boards; the maximum output waveform rate is 400Mbps; it supports up to 3,072 DUT wafer - level parallel testing; it supports channel parallel connection, with a maximum current of 96A per board and can be connected in parallel across boards.
Taitan Testing exhibited a series of products such as memory chip ATE test machines, BI aging test machines, SLT test machines, SSD module test equipment, and DDR module test equipment. These products cover all test links from memory wafers, chips to modules, helping to achieve localization breakthroughs in test equipment in the DRAM and NAND Flash fields. At the same time, Taitan is also conducting research on key materials and fixtures for semiconductor testing and can provide customers with comprehensive test equipment delivery and maintenance services. It is understood that Taitan Testing has received a 100 - million - yuan investment from the strategic shareholder Changcun Industry Investment Fund, with a 16.34% stake, making it the second - largest shareholder. (For a more in - depth understanding of Taitan Testing's technology roadmap and development plan, please refer to "Dialogue with Dr. Xu Yonggang, CEO of Taitan Testing: The Reshuffle of the Memory Test Equipment Industry Restarts")
Judging from the information released at the exhibition, domestic test equipment has achieved certain technological breakthroughs in the two core tracks of SoC and storage, which have extremely high technological barriers. Compared with international manufacturers, domestic enterprises also have significant supply - chain advantages. A staff member of Changchuan Technology revealed that the delivery cycle of overseas equipment suppliers generally exceeds half a year, while domestic equipment can be delivered quickly within two months, which can respond more efficiently to the mass - production needs of domestic customers.
02 Process Equipment, the "Deep - water Area" of the Industry Chain
Test and measurement are just part of the semiconductor equipment industry chain. In the field of process equipment, the localization process is also accelerating. Core equipment for wafer manufacturing such as etching, deposition, and epitaxy is the deep - water area for the implementation of semiconductor industrialization. At this exhibition, the booths of domestic equipment leaders such as AMEC and Naura Technology Group were very popular, and they all brought new products and technology upgrade solutions.
Naura Technology Group released several new products, including the new - generation 12 - inch NMC612H inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etching equipment, the 12 - inch Qomola HPD30 hybrid bonding equipment, and the high - aspect - ratio TSV electroplating (ECP) equipment Ausip T830. Among them, the NMC612H inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etching equipment increases the aspect ratio of ICP small - size etching to hundreds to one and brings the uniformity into the angstrom - level era. The HPD30 hybrid bonding equipment focuses on the extreme requirements for chip interconnection in the full - field applications of 3D integration such as SoC, HBM, and Chiplet, and becomes the first domestic manufacturer to complete the process verification of the D2W hybrid bonding equipment at the client side. The Ausip T830 achieves a leap from "automated execution" to "adaptive intelligent manufacturing" by integrating AI into the equipment, providing a systematic solution to the problem of filling high - aspect - ratio structures in advanced packaging. At the same time, Naura Technology Group integrates the technological advantages of Xinyuan Microelectronics, achieves complementary advantages in response to the process challenges of advanced logic, advanced storage, and three - dimensional stacking, completes the global reconstruction of the wet - process ecosystem, with a wet - process full - flow process coverage of over 97%, and builds an industry - leading high - end wet - process full - flow solution system.
AMEC held a new - product launch event at the exhibition site and launched four new products at once: the new - generation inductively coupled ICP plasma etching equipment Primo Angnova, the high - selectivity etching machine Primo Domingo, the Smart RF Match intelligent radio - frequency matcher, and the blue - green Micro LED mass - production MOCVD equipment Preciomo Udx. Among them, the launch of Primo Angnova provides an independently controllable and technologically leading ICP etching process solution for the manufacturing field of 5 - nanometer and below logic chips and advanced memory chips with the same technological node difficulty. The launch of Primo Domingo fills the domestic gap in the autonomous key etching process for the manufacturing of next - generation 3D semiconductor devices. It is worth noting that AMEC also participated in the exhibition jointly with Zhonggui Technology, which it recently acquired. Zhonggui Technology made a grand appearance with its CMP equipment, further improving AMEC's full - chain layout in the key process links of wafer manufacturing.
Tuojing Technology launched high - end equipment such as the Volans 300 3D IC precision repair equipment designed to solve the problem of bonding interface voids, the PF - 300L Plus nX PECVD low - dielectric thin - film equipment, the VS 300 Astra - s SiN PEALD atomic - layer deposition equipment, and the chip - to - wafer fusion bonding equipment.
Huahaiqingke showcased a full range of advanced semiconductor equipment and process integration solutions. These include the CMP equipment Universal - 300T, the thinning and polishing integrated machine Versatile - GP300, the wafer edge trimming machine Versatile - DT300, and the high - current ion implanter iPUMA - LE.
Jingsheng Machine Electric systematically demonstrated a three - dimensional product system including the 12 - inch large - silicon - wafer industry - chain solution, the compound solution, the full - process solution for square silicon wafers, and the full - range thinning equipment solution. For the field of advanced packaging, it launched a 12 - inch W2W high - precision bonding equipment designed specifically for semiconductor 3D integration and advanced packaging. While integrating full - process modules, it has excellent characteristics such as high alignment accuracy and high productivity. The simultaneously launched SOI bonding and picosecond laser grooving equipment can meet the needs of high - end wafer manufacturing and processing. It is worth noting that the full - process solution for square silicon wafers unveiled this time provides a full set of independently developed equipment from crystal growth to detection, achieving a technological leap from traditional circular wafers to rectangular substrates and providing a practical industrialization path to solve the bottlenecks in the area utilization rate and packaging efficiency of advanced packaging.
It is not difficult to see from the product layouts of various manufacturers that in addition to continuously tackling the core processes of advanced manufacturing, advanced packaging has become the core layout track for domestic equipment enterprises. In particular, bonding equipment has become the core direction where leading enterprises are focusing their efforts. In addition, domestic equipment leaders have generally launched platform - based development strategies, breaking away from the limitations of single - equipment R & D and turning to the layout of integrated solutions that cover the entire process and adapt to all scenarios.
03 Breakthroughs in Core Components of Semiconductor Equipment
In the industrialization process of the semiconductor equipment industry chain, in addition to core equipment and software enterprises, as the cornerstone of semiconductor equipment, semiconductor equipment components also support the development of the equipment industry in the background. Semiconductor core components are also the most difficult and technologically intensive part of the semiconductor equipment manufacturing process. Although they do not directly participate in chip production, they are the key to domestic equipment. At this exhibition, a group of domestic component enterprises brought their latest implementation results and gradually entered the mainstream supply chain of domestic equipment.
AMEC not only launched new equipment but also introduced the Smart RF Match intelligent radio - frequency matcher, a key subsystem in high - end semiconductor etching equipment. The Smart RF Match intelligent radio - frequency matcher is used to achieve stable plasma generation and control in the equipment chamber. It is specially designed for semiconductor front - end processes, especially for applications such as dielectric etching, silicon etching, metal etching, and precision etching in advanced packaging, MEMS, and compound semiconductors. It introduces the concept of a radio - frequency loop private network into the semiconductor equipment field for the first time. Through EtherCAT, it realizes the real - time and accurate transmission of radio - frequency status information between the radio - frequency power supply and the intelligent matcher, enabling the intelligent matcher to act as an active device, adjusting the matching network and issuing control instructions to the radio - frequency power supply at the same time.
Qier Electromechanical exhibited its LP series of magnetic - levitation pumps, BD series of dampers, BP series of bellows pumps (air - bag pumps), UFC series of liquid ultrasonic flow controllers, UF - CV series of external - clamp flow sensors, and liquid purification systems. It is understood that its liquid purification system provides stable and reliable ultrapure water for lithography process equipment, protecting it so that it can still achieve high - quality exposure even when the water quality of the user's factory is unstable. The liquid purification system mainly controls indicators that affect exposure quality, such as TOC, particles, dissolved oxygen, total silicon, temperature, pressure, key metal ions, and key non - metal ions. It uses components made of high - purity PFA or PTFE materials to ensure extremely low ion and organic carbon precipitation in the system, meeting the water quality, temperature, and pressure requirements of lithography process equipment.
It can be seen that domestic enterprises have achieved multiple breakthroughs in the field of semiconductor equipment core components. More importantly, the whole - machine equipment manufacturers are accelerating their efforts in self - research of core components, collaborating with professional component enterprises to jointly build a domestic supply - chain system.
04 Conclusion
After leaving the exhibition halls of SEMICON China 2026, one can clearly feel the real changes taking place in the domestic semiconductor equipment industry chain. From test and measurement equipment to core manufacturing equipment, and even including key components of semiconductor equipment, domestic enterprises are gradually moving from single - point technological breakthroughs in the past to the coordinated coverage and implementation of the entire chain.
This process of technological deep - diving and industrial implementation is still ongoing. The next three to five years will also be a crucial window period for domestic enterprises to continue to make breakthroughs and expand the implementation results.
This article is from the WeChat official account "Semiconductor Industry Insights" (ID: ICViews). The author is Peng Cheng. It is published by 36Kr with authorization.