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TAP TIMES -33- NOVEMBER 2022
Biden places massive sanctions The sanctions published on October 7 will
on China, cutting tool imports block shipments of a wide array of semi-
conductors for use in Chinese supercom-
puters.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — October 7, 2022
is a day that will live in infamy in Bei-
jing, China and its nascent, but grow- Supercomputers defined
ing semiconductor industry. The order, said Reuters, define a super-
computer as any system with more than
100 petaflops of computing power within
Imports from U.S. tightened
That Friday, the Biden administration 6,400 square feet.
placed new sanctions that prevent U.S.
semiconductor equipment makers from The Apple Insider reported that Apple,
sending advanced tools to China. as a result of the sanctions, has dropped
plans to use memory fabricated by China’s
largest semiconductor fab YMTC.
The controls prohibit China from buying
semiconductors made anywhere with U.S.-
built equipment, according to Reuters. The state-owned Chinese supplier was to
become one of the NAND flash suppliers
for iPhones this year.
U.S. equipment makers were sent letters
earlier this year requiring them to halt
shipments to Chinese-owned factories. With the October announcement, Com-
merce’s Bureau of Industry & Security
added 30 more Chinese companies to the
“This will set the Chinese back years,” said
Jim Lewis, a technology expert at the Cen- prohibited “Entity” list, including YMTC.
ter for Strategic and International Studies,
quoted by Reuters. The policies, he said, U.S. citizens or permanent U.S. residents
are as tough as those in place during the who work in the Chinese semiconductor
Cold War. industry risk loss of their legal status.
Weapons development
Memory prices (from 32) China has been using supercomputers and
AI to develop weapons systems, The New
physical limits of manufacturing. Consid- York Times reported.
ering that supply-side bit growth from
Micron and Kioxia has been downgraded, “For months, administration officials de-
the 2023 NAND Flash Sufficiency Ratio will bated what they could do to hobble Chi-
drop significantly from the original esti- na’s progress.”
mate of 10.1% to 5.6%.
ASML, the Dutch maker of front-end tools,
Under the expectation that more NAND told U.S. employees to stop servicing Chi-
Flash suppliers will join the ranks reduc- nese customers, according to Benzinga.
ing production due to loss considerations,
inventory pressure is expected to ease in Applied Materials acknowledged that a
the 2Q23, while price declines are expect- fresh set of U.S. government sanctions can
ed to diminish in 2H23. trendforce.com result in up to a $1.1 billion sales impact.
