⬆ UPSTREAM — SUPPLIERS13
ASML
Sole maker of EUV lithography machines
Shin-Etsu Chemical
World's largest silicon wafer supplier
Sumitomo Chemical
Key supplier of EUV photoresist and compound semiconductors
Applied Materials
Largest semiconductor equipment maker by revenue
Tokyo Electron
Leading maker of etch and deposition equipment
Lam Research
Leading supplier of etch and deposition equipment
SUMCO
#2 global silicon wafer supplier; duopoly with Shin-Etsu controls ~55% of world supply
JSR Corporation
Major EUV and ArF immersion photoresist supplier; taken private by Japan Investment Corporation in 2023
KLA
Dominant maker of wafer inspection and metrology tools
NAURA Technology
China's largest semiconductor equipment maker (etch, deposition, thermal, cleaning); rose to 5th globally by sales in 2025/2026, behind only ASML, Applied Materials, Lam Research, and TEL; Entity Listed Dec 2024 with 139 other Chinese chip-tool firms
AMEC
China's leading etch-tool maker; SMIC has purchased 800+ AMEC tools; its CCP etch tools are also qualified in TSMC's 5nm/7nm volume lines; Commerce Entity Listed Jan 2024, though removed from the Pentagon's separate military-company list Dec 2024
SMEE
China's state-owned lithography champion, the closest domestic answer to ASML; its 600-series DUV scanner is in mass production at 90nm; spin-out Shanghai Yuliangsheng, linked to Huawei's SiCarrier initiative, is now testing China's first domestic 28nm-class immersion DUV scanner at SMIC
Empyrean Technology
China's largest domestic EDA vendor (Shenzhen ChiNext); holds ~6% of China's total EDA market but is the largest local player, competing against Cadence/Synopsys/Siemens EDA; increasingly adopted by CXMT, SMIC, and other Chinese fabs as the 2022 US EDA export restrictions bite
SMIC
China's largest foundry; capped at 14nm without EUV access; Entity Listed 2020
⬇ DOWNSTREAM — CUSTOMERS7
Huawei / HiSilicon
China's leading chip designer (Kirin mobile, Ascend AI); on US Entity List since 2019
Biren Technology
China's leading GPU startup; BR100 was TSMC-fabbed at 7nm but Biren was Entity Listed by BIS in Oct 2022, cutting off TSMC access and US EDA tools; now pivoting to domestic fabs
Cambricon
China's publicly listed AI chip designer (STAR Market); MLU-series accelerators used in domestic cloud and edge AI; Entity Listed Dec 2020, now fabbed at SMIC
JCET Group
China's largest OSAT and #3 globally after ASE and Amkor (~10.5% global OSAT revenue share); investing RMB 7.8B in a new Shanghai advanced-packaging plant (phase 1 in 2H 2028) targeting AI/HBM-class 2.5D/3D packaging
Moore Threads
Fabless GPU designer founded by ex-NVIDIA China head Zhang Jianzhong; MTT S-series accelerators fabbed at SMIC on mature nodes (no TSMC access); listed on STAR Market Dec 2025 at a RMB 53.7B valuation, surging ~469% on debut
MetaX
Fabless GPU designer founded 2020 by ex-AMD engineers; C-series accelerators (C500/C600/C700) target HBM3e/FP8 AI training; listed on STAR Market Dec 2025, surging ~693% on debut; filed for a follow-on Hong Kong listing June 2026
Enflame Technology
Fabless AI-training accelerator designer founded 2018 (Cloud/DTU series); Tencent's largest external chip bet (20.26% stake, 83.79% of 2025 revenue); STAR Market IPO registration effective July 2026, targeting a ~RMB 6B raise ahead of its trading debut
UPSTREAM — SUPPLIERS
ASML
Sole maker of EUV lithography machines
Shin-Etsu Chemical
World's largest silicon wafer supplier
Sumitomo Chemical
Key supplier of EUV photoresist and compound semiconductors
Applied Materials
Largest semiconductor equipment maker by revenue
Tokyo Electron
Leading maker of etch and deposition equipment
Lam Research
Leading supplier of etch and deposition equipment
SUMCO
#2 global silicon wafer supplier; duopoly with Shin-Etsu controls ~55% of world supply
JSR Corporation
Major EUV and ArF immersion photoresist supplier; taken private by Japan Investment Corporation in 2023
KLA
Dominant maker of wafer inspection and metrology tools
NAURA Technology
China's largest semiconductor equipment maker (etch, deposition, thermal, cleaning); rose to 5th globally by sales in 2025/2026, behind only ASML, Applied Materials, Lam Research, and TEL; Entity Listed Dec 2024 with 139 other Chinese chip-tool firms
AMEC
China's leading etch-tool maker; SMIC has purchased 800+ AMEC tools; its CCP etch tools are also qualified in TSMC's 5nm/7nm volume lines; Commerce Entity Listed Jan 2024, though removed from the Pentagon's separate military-company list Dec 2024
SMEE
China's state-owned lithography champion, the closest domestic answer to ASML; its 600-series DUV scanner is in mass production at 90nm; spin-out Shanghai Yuliangsheng, linked to Huawei's SiCarrier initiative, is now testing China's first domestic 28nm-class immersion DUV scanner at SMIC
Empyrean Technology
China's largest domestic EDA vendor (Shenzhen ChiNext); holds ~6% of China's total EDA market but is the largest local player, competing against Cadence/Synopsys/Siemens EDA; increasingly adopted by CXMT, SMIC, and other Chinese fabs as the 2022 US EDA export restrictions bite
↓ all supply to SMIC ↓
SMIC
China's largest foundry; capped at 14nm without EUV access; Entity Listed 2020
↓ SMIC supplies to ↓
Huawei / HiSilicon
China's leading chip designer (Kirin mobile, Ascend AI); on US Entity List since 2019
Biren Technology
China's leading GPU startup; BR100 was TSMC-fabbed at 7nm but Biren was Entity Listed by BIS in Oct 2022, cutting off TSMC access and US EDA tools; now pivoting to domestic fabs
Cambricon
China's publicly listed AI chip designer (STAR Market); MLU-series accelerators used in domestic cloud and edge AI; Entity Listed Dec 2020, now fabbed at SMIC
JCET Group
China's largest OSAT and #3 globally after ASE and Amkor (~10.5% global OSAT revenue share); investing RMB 7.8B in a new Shanghai advanced-packaging plant (phase 1 in 2H 2028) targeting AI/HBM-class 2.5D/3D packaging
Moore Threads
Fabless GPU designer founded by ex-NVIDIA China head Zhang Jianzhong; MTT S-series accelerators fabbed at SMIC on mature nodes (no TSMC access); listed on STAR Market Dec 2025 at a RMB 53.7B valuation, surging ~469% on debut
MetaX
Fabless GPU designer founded 2020 by ex-AMD engineers; C-series accelerators (C500/C600/C700) target HBM3e/FP8 AI training; listed on STAR Market Dec 2025, surging ~693% on debut; filed for a follow-on Hong Kong listing June 2026
Enflame Technology
Fabless AI-training accelerator designer founded 2018 (Cloud/DTU series); Tencent's largest external chip bet (20.26% stake, 83.79% of 2025 revenue); STAR Market IPO registration effective July 2026, targeting a ~RMB 6B raise ahead of its trading debut
DOWNSTREAM — CUSTOMERS
QWhat is SMIC's role in the AI chip supply chain?
China's largest foundry; capped at 14nm without EUV access; Entity Listed 2020
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