“(Bloomberg) – The Dutch government is planning to publish new export controls that will restrict more of ASML Holding NV’s chipmaking machines from being sent to China as soon as next week, according to people familiar with the matter.”
Wonder how long it’ll take China to develop its own advanced chip making? Probably further along if the allegations of IP theft are true?
Honestly, they are not catching up, they are falling behind.
TSMC, Samsung and ASML etc are breaking new ground faster than China can improve its own production.
IP does not help much without the technical processes as well.
The CCP stole jet engine designs from the west and bought russian fighter jets to reverse engineer decades ago.
They still cannot produce the engines as they do not have the metallurgy and fabrication techniques to do so. The new Chinese J20 stealth plane is massively under powered (to the point of being operationally useless) because they cannot produce a reliable engine that can produce the required thrust without a lifespan measured in hours before a full rebuild is required.
It is the same with the ASML machines. Here is one of the many aspects that China (or anyone else outside ASML) cannot copy: The new gen machines rely on the most perfectly cast mirrors ever made to etch the silicon wafers. They are made in Germany and cannot be produced elsewhere.