China’s surging chip tool imports from south-east Asia

{"text":[[{"start":11.5,"text":"Hi everyone! This is Cheng Ting-Fang, your #techAsia host for this week."}],[{"start":17.25,"text":"In just the past few days, I found myself at two groundbreaking ceremonies for chip suppliers. One was down in southern Taiwan in Kaohsiung, close to TSMC’s most cutting-edge 2-nanometre plants. The other was in Taipei, near where new offices are being taken over by Nvidia and AMD. Despite the celebratory mood, both events carried the same underlying message: Demand is still outpacing supply."}],[{"start":45.7,"text":"Under the tropical April sunshine, with temperatures climbing over 30C in Kaohsiung, ASE, the world’s largest chip packaging and testing service provider, broke ground on a $3.4bn project to build an advanced chip testing facility. The site is expected to start production in 2027."}],[{"start":64.25,"text":"Kaohsiung mayor Chen Chi-mai said he was astonished by how fast the company was moving. “I asked my team: Is it real? ASE secured and finalised the land transaction on the last day of March, and they are breaking ground and starting construction only 10 days later.”"}],[{"start":81.55,"text":"ASE CEO Tien Wu told reporters that his company’s capital spending would likely be higher than the originally planned $7bn for 2026. “This year, we are constructing six plants all at once,” he said. “It’s indeed record-breaking in the company’s history. Something we have never seen before.”"}],[{"start":101.5,"text":"While it is well known that speed is of the essence in warfare, Wu said the same holds true in business."}],[{"start":108.45,"text":"“We are racing to build this [plant],” he said. “We aim to start production in just one year. We’re moving up the speed.” This week, ASE also bought an existing facility from display maker Innolux for $470mn to expand its cleanroom capacity."}],[{"start":126.65,"text":"“In this new wave of AI, competition isn’t just about hardware capabilities,” Wu added. “It’s about the strength of industrial clusters, the depth of the semiconductor workforce, and very crucially, overall administrative efficiency.”"}],[{"start":140.6,"text":"Back in Taipei, I visited the construction site of Nasdaq-listed Silicon Motion, which develops NAND flash controller chips. Excavators crowded the grounds. President and CEO Wallace Kou said the market is still facing significant shortfalls in memory supply."}],[{"start":158.7,"text":"“Prices for NAND flash of varying capacities have surged four to 10-fold since last year,” said Kou, who was just back from meeting clients in the US, Japan and China. “It’s unprecedented.” The company has also just moved into a new headquarters in Hsinchu and is leasing additional space to support hiring."}],[{"start":178.89999999999998,"text":"“Some people are concerned about an AI bubble, but the near-term risk looks low,” he said. “As more enterprises adopt AI, the demand for storage for their own data grows. The supply gap is likely to widen further in 2027!”"}],[{"start":193.79999999999998,"text":"Supply chains, retooled"}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":196.14999999999998,"text":"China continues to buy chipmaking equipment from Japan, the Netherlands and the US to support the smooth ramp-up of domestic production, but the supply chain is shifting."}],[{"start":206.45,"text":"This exclusive Nikkei Asia analysis of Chinese customs data shows imports from south-east Asia, particularly Singapore and Malaysia, surged to record levels in 2025. Industry experts say much of this growth reflects the expanding manufacturing presence of US chip tool makers such as Lam Research, Applied Materials and KLA in the region."}],[{"start":229.7,"text":"Meanwhile, Japan and the Netherlands, home to leading chip equipment makers such as Tokyo Electron and ASML, remain the primary foreign suppliers for China’s chip plants. Combined shipments from the two countries totalled more than $77bn between 2020 and 2025, according to the analysis by Cheng Ting-Fang and Lauly Li, even as China’s domestic equipment champions continue to report record earnings and profits in 2025."}],[{"start":257.4,"text":"The success of China’s localisation push has prompted US policymakers to propose the MATCH Act, calling on allies to tighten export controls on critical “chokepoints” in the chipmaking equipment and components supply chain."}],[{"start":271.04999999999995,"text":"A bigger role for Haas"}],[{"start":273.15,"text":"Arm boss Rene Haas is in line to lead a swath of SoftBank Group’s international business in order to accelerate Masayoshi Son’s ambitions in semiconductors and AI, writes the Financial Times’ David Keohane."}],[{"start":286.54999999999995,"text":"The new role, which Haas would take on alongside his position as head of Arm, will have oversight of operations including semiconductors, AI and possibly robotics, according to multiple people familiar with the matter."}],[{"start":299.4,"text":"The intention was to enable Haas to push forward Project Izanagi, SoftBank’s AI chip strategy to compete with established rivals such as Nvidia, the people said. They warned the new role was yet to be approved by the boards of SoftBank or Arm and could yet change."}],[{"start":315.65,"text":"Haas was expected to take a title reflecting his role at the top of SoftBank Group International, but was not expected to run SoftBank’s Vision Fund investment vehicles or its energy business, the same people said."}],[{"start":328.25,"text":"Son, the billionaire founder of SoftBank, wants the group to play a central role in AI through power, robotics, data centres and chip design."}],[{"start":337.65,"text":"He has mobilised the conglomerate towards that aim, which he believes is the next stage in humanity’s development, pouring tens of billions into OpenAI while buying up chip companies such as Graphcore and Ampere — both of which Haas intends to utilise for the group’s semiconductor plans."}],[{"start":354.7,"text":"SoftBank and Arm declined to comment."}],[{"start":358.09999999999997,"text":"Order oversight"}],[{"start":360.04999999999995,"text":"China is preparing to fine major ecommerce platforms including Pinduoduo, ByteDance’s Douyin, Alibaba’s Taobao, JD.com and Meituan over food delivery issues, writes Nikkei Asia’s Cissy Zhou."}],[{"start":374.54999999999995,"text":"Pinduoduo could face a fine of up to Rmb1.5bn ($219mn), while other platforms may be penalised between roughly Rmb50mn and Rmb700mn, sources said, though the final amount is subject to change. The move reflects Beijing’s push to hold digital platforms more accountable for food sourcing and safety."}],[{"start":400.59999999999997,"text":"The move followed routine on-site inspections of the companies by the market regulator late last year. This is not the first time Beijing has imposed big fines on its leading tech companies. In 2021, for instance, Alibaba was slapped with a record Rmb18.23bn antitrust fine."}],[{"start":418.65,"text":"Tesla’s next step in China?"}],[{"start":420.79999999999995,"text":"Tesla’s China president, Wang Hao, said the company’s Shanghai Gigafactory could potentially be adapted to produce humanoid robots, Nikkei’s Shunsuke Tabeta reports, a move that would further elevate the plant’s strategic role. The facility is already one of Tesla’s most cost-efficient and has helped build out China’s EV supply chain."}],[{"start":440.49999999999994,"text":"The comments referred to the factory’s “strong, scalable mass production capabilities and significant future potential”. However, Tesla’s China unit later clarified that there are no concrete plans as of yet to build humanoid robots in Shanghai."}],[{"start":455.44999999999993,"text":"Nikkei previously reported that Tesla is working to build a separate supply chain outside of both China and Taiwan to serve global markets to mitigate geopolitical risks."}],[{"start":465.8999999999999,"text":"Suggested reads"}],[{"start":null,"text":"

1. Auntie AI: China’s chatbot makers cultivate senior users (Nikkei Asia)

2. China shock 2.0: the flood of high-tech goods that will change the world (FT)

3. Japan’s Cybozu bets on Malaysia, Thailand for software growth, says CEO (Nikkei Asia)

4. China’s Alibaba shifts towards revenue over open-source AI (FT)

5. China’s Oppo takes on iPhone in Japan with $2,000 foldable phone (Nikkei Asia)

6. The chips chokehold that could end the AI investment boom (FT)

7. Will Google’s TurboQuant algorithm hurt AI demand for memory chips? (FT)

8. TikTok, Sea, Alibaba-owned ecommerce corner ASEAN markets (Nikkei Asia)

9. Asian start-ups evolve to reshape industries with AI (FT)

10. Singaporean data centre provider opens AI testing hub for businesses (Nikkei Asia)

"}],[{"start":467.69999999999993,"text":"#techAsia is co-ordinated by Nikkei Asia’s Katherine Creel in Tokyo, with assistance from the FT tech desk in London. "}],[{"start":475.54999999999995,"text":"Sign up here at Nikkei Asia to receive #techAsia each week. The editorial team can be reached at [email protected]"}],[{"start":491.9,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1776510550_7677.mp3"}