March 26, 2025, Shanghai
New International Expo Center Hall 3.
In front of a booth, a crowd gathers,
A group of spectators is crowded in front, trying to see the names of the equipment manufacturers on display.
A new semiconductor equipment manufacturing company,
New Kailai.
1. The mountains are all present, but the Himalayas are missing
The giant poster at the booth displays dozens of equipment for the entire semiconductor manufacturing process, coveringprocess equipment and measurement equipment in two major categories.
These pieces of equipment are named after famous mountains.
“Emei Mountain”: Process equipment includes diffusion equipment EP (12-inch single-wafer low-pressure epitaxy equipment, supporting germanium-silicon epitaxy and third-generation semiconductor materials)“Wuyi Mountain”: Etching equipment ETCH (CCP/ICP dry etching equipment),
Thin film deposition equipment: PVD “Putuo Mountain” ALD “Alishan” and CVD “Changbai Mountain”.
Measurement equipment includes optical inspection “Yuelu Mountain/Danxia Mountain”, PX measurement “Yimeng Mountain AFM” (Atomic Force Microscope) and power measurement RATE series.
Fortunately, there are plenty of famous mountains in China to use for naming.
However, New Kailai did not mention the lithography machine, which is a concern for many.
I think perhaps this is why the Himalayas are not included.
However, in a media interview, a salesperson from New Kailai mentioned it.
A new lithography machine is already available.
It is already available.
As expected,
it was anticipated.
But it was not at the booth.
Chip equipment manufacturing is a weak link in semiconductor equipment.
At the same time, overseas media have confirmed through various channels that an A version DUV lithography machine (the A version is a prototype version, while the B version is the mass production version) has already begun debugging on a certain chip manufacturing line.
The only unexpected thing is,
why did New Kailai suddenly launch so many devices.
Thus, a question arises:
Who is New Kailai?
2. No one can extinguish the starlight
This question dates back five years.
On September 15, 2020, a ban from the U.S. Department of Commerce froze global technology history.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), Samsung, and other companies completely cut off supplies to Huawei.
This day marked Huawei’s Stalingrad moment.
Chip supply cuts were like cutting off the oxygen of modern industry.
In a Huawei smartphone, the SOC, 5G RF components, and core components rely on TSMC’s advanced manufacturing processes.
In fact, it is not just Huawei; globally, chip design companies, except for Intel, basically all rely on TSMC and Samsung’s advanced manufacturing processes.
If advanced process production lines are to be built in China,
then there is a fatal problem with the “industrial mother machine” for chip manufacturing—lithography machines, etching machines, deposition equipment—China’s self-sufficiency rate is less than 5%.
Later, this problem became widely known as the “lack of lithography machines.”
In fact, an advanced process production line requires more than 200 types of equipment, and the lack is not just lithography machines.
Without its own equipment, China’s semiconductor industry will always be a hostage.
Huawei’s desperate struggle for survival led to the semiconductor equipment self-research plan codenamed “Starlight Project.”
This poetic name hides the determination of many engineers.
If we are to benchmark advanced processes,
the most advanced at that time was TSMC’s 5nm and 7nm.
To manufacture advanced process production lines,
we need lithography machines to benchmark ASML, etching machines to catch up with Lam Research, and deposition equipment to compete with Applied Materials.
This seemed like a pipe dream,
unrealistic.
The future looked bleak.
Many projects had to remain confidential.
In August 2021, a small company with a registered capital of only 10 million yuan quietly registered in a building in Shenzhen Bay Startup Plaza.
It attracted little attention from the outside world, and its wholly-owned holding entity is the Shenzhen Major Industrial Investment Group—an “affiliated force” of the Shenzhen State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.
This company, named “New Kailai,” has very little public information.
Some employees revealed: “It inherits from Huawei’s Starlight Project, even the overtime culture is the same.”
There are also former engineers: “There is no ‘lying flat’ here, only ‘lying in the lab.’”
If we were to search for information about New Kailai at this moment,
everything would be confidential.
On Zhihu, there is a question about how New Kailai is as a company.
There are very few answers below.
Only students who have gone for interviews responded.
“I didn’t expect that when I went for an interview at New Kailai, HR also asked us to sign a confidentiality agreement.”
“I heard the leaders are all from Huawei.”
Among these answers, one question is particularly interesting,
someone asked, “Is New Kailai an outsourcing company for Huawei?”
In the comments of these answers,
there is a particularly eye-catching remark
“New Kailai is not Huawei’s outsourcing; Huawei is New Kailai’s outsourcing.”
This comment received the most approvals.
It seems there are indeed industry insiders.
One sentence reveals the secret.
3. If it does not chirp, it will soar
As the Records of the Grand Historian says: “In the kingdom, there is a great bird that stops at the king’s court, not flying or chirping for three years, the king knows why this bird is.”
“This bird does not fly, but when it does, it soars to the sky; it does not chirp, but when it does, it astonishes the world.”
Finally, on March 26, 2025,
New Kailai suddenly launched more than a dozen chip manufacturing devices.
“I have revealed my hand; I am no longer pretending.”
Not only did they launch more than a dozen devices,
but the two product line presidents also made public appearances.
One is the product line president Li Zhoujian.
His last public news online was in 2021 when he attended an event as the president of Huawei’s wireless product line.
Now in 2025, he is the product line president of measurement at New Kailai.
During these three years, there was no public news.
In an interview, he stated that New Kailai’s first focus is on advanced process equipment, and only then on mature processes.
The other product line president is Du Lijun.
No previous public reports could be found.
However, public resumes online indicate that
he has worked for 23 years in a leading global ICT company, holding positions such as senior R&D expert, head of the R&D department, and general manager of the product field.
I think everyone can easily guess which ICT company it is.
It does not matter who the ICT company is,
what matters is solving practical problems.
In response to the semiconductor industry entering the advanced process era,
chip manufacturing will mainly focus on transistor size reduction and RC delay (circuit delay) to solve problems.
Du Lijun shared New Kailai’s thoughts on chip manufacturing.
“Our process equipment can use non-optical technologies to solve some lithography issues.”
He also raised several major challenges in chip manufacturing processes.
In the dielectric thin film deposition process, challenges include material diversification, high step coverage, and high etching selectivity;
the evolution of metal interconnect processes also requires smaller critical dimensions and higher RC challenges;
metal vapor deposition (CVD) technology also urgently requires new materials and high selectivity deposition.
In response to the above issues, Du Lijun proposed three solution paths: new materials, advanced lithography + non-optical illumination, and 3D architecture.
In the future, New Kailai has developed technologies such as multiple patterning exposure, self-alignment, and selective deposition to meet challenges.
There are methods, there are paths, there is a foundation, but time is also needed.
With product launches, the product line presidents also publicly shared their thoughts on the future of the semiconductor industry.
This is the “New Kailai” moment in Chinese chip equipment manufacturing.
This is not just about developing more equipment
but about moving from secrecy to openness.
It signifies that practical production line issues have been resolved, and they can promote openly without fear of sanctions.
Behind New Kailai,
there is a long list of names with no information available
Pengxinwei,
Shengweixu,
Yuliangsheng,
……
and so on.
When these companies publicly appear, it will signify that new equipment or capabilities have achieved breakthroughs.
Looking back to the beginning of the China-U.S. trade war in 2018, the scale of the Chinese semiconductor equipment market accounted for only 2% of the global market; by 2025, this figure has jumped to 17%.
New Kailai may not have reached the top yet,
but the various mysterious companies that follow make one think of the saturated rescue in the Wandering Earth.
The Art of War says:
“Good warriors bring others to their side without being brought to theirs.”
The chip war is far from over,
but good warriors are already looking forward to the dawn of victory.
I am Brother Wairui, a writer who enjoys writing. If you find this article good, please like, share, and set it as a star mark so that the public account can push it to everyone in a timely manner.