Naura Technology Group climbed up in the rankings of the world’s biggest semiconductor equipment suppliers in 2024, as China’s leading chip tool maker braced for tighter U.S. tech restrictions. Beijing-based Naura was ranked sixth among global chipmaking equipment suppliers by revenue last year, up from eighth place in 2023 when it cracked the industry’s top-10 for the first time, according to Chinese semiconductor research firm CINNO. The company, which is expected to post a 40% increase in 2024 sales, was the only Chinese firm among the world’s top-10 chipmaking equipment vendors. Dutch giant ASML Holding topped the table, followed by U.S. companies Applied Materials and Lam Research. The combined 2024 revenue of the top 10 global chipmaking equipment suppliers rose 10% to about USD110 billion from a year earlier.
Naura’s ascent reflects Beijing’s push for greater self-reliance in core technologies, including semiconductors. Naura forecast total 2024 sales to grow between 25% and 44% to reach CNY27.6 billion to CNY31.8 billion, driven by product breakthroughs and expanded market share. It also expected a 33% to 53% jump in net income up to around CNY5.95 billion. Naura faces increased pressure after the company and 140 other Chinese companies were added to the U.S. Entity List in December over national security concerns. According to the U.S. Commerce Department, the move would further impair China’s ability to make advanced-node semiconductors that can be used in technologies with military applications. In January, the U.S. announced new rules that would completely block the export of artificial-intelligence (AI) chips and related technologies to Chinese enterprises.
Global chipmaking equipment market leader ASML, meanwhile, plans to upgrade its “reuse-and-repair” center in Beijing this year. Mainland China was ASML’s largest market, which accounted for 36.1% of its total sales in 2024, overtaking Taiwan for the first time, the South China Morning Post reports.
