FT: Huawei starts coordinating domestic lithography machines; Yuliangsheng targets 12 DUV units by year-end.

Beating AI News Flash: Huawei is deepening its involvement in China’s domestic lithography machine supply chain. The Financial Times reported that Huawei has not only invested in relevant equipment and component firms, but is also coordinating suppliers, wafer foundries, and end-device manufacturers to advance the integration of China’s domestically developed DUV (deep ultraviolet lithography machines) into actual production lines. Bernstein analysts directly referred to Huawei as the “project manager” for China’s DUV initiative. The most advanced progress is seen at Shanghai Yuliangsheng. The company has participated in developing China’s advanced domestic DUV; its equipment is currently being tested at wafer foundries including SMIC (Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation) and Huawei’s own production lines, with plans to manufacture 12 units by the end of this year. At this stage, it is focused on simpler chips, with the ultimate goal of applying the technology to advanced AI chip manufacturing. China’s domestic DUV has not yet fully broken free from overseas supply chains: the projection lens used by Yuliangsheng still comes from Germany’s Zeiss, while high-power light sources remain a major bottleneck. Huawei has invested in firms such as Zhiqi Photon and Keyi Hongyuan to supplement domestic lens and light source capabilities respectively.