After China stops buying, the semiconductor industry in Europe and the US is struggling.

First, ASML's stock fell 14% in a single day, Intel's revenue in China dropped by 58% in the second quarter, and its Dalian factory was forced to close; later, NVIDIA saw its sales in China drop to zero, and had no choice but to announce a 100% withdrawal from the Chinese market. Recently, there have been reports that Micron has also announced its exit from the server chip business in China.

Three global chip giants have collectively "left China." Is this an inevitable result of the chip game, or a misinterpreted industrial turning point?

What truth lies behind the "retreat tide"?

01. The "Collective" Retreat of Three Global Giants

ASML, the only company in the world that can produce EUV lithography machines, is known as the "jewel on the crown of the chip industry." According to the latest financial report, ASML's net orders in the third quarter reached 5.4 billion euros, but CEO Christophe Fouquet turned his tone, saying, "We expect sales in China to be significantly lower in 2026 than in 2024 and 2025, and we are about to face two consecutive years of decline."

As the tide of chips recedes, all three giants are left bare. The world's third-largest memory chip manufacturer - Micron - has relied heavily on the Chinese market: In the fiscal year 2024, its revenue in China reached $3.4 billion, accounting for 12% of total revenue. However, since 2023, China has launched cybersecurity reviews against it, and investment in Chinese data centers has surged 9 times, reaching $24.7 billion! On one hand, the market is surging, while on the other, policy restrictions are tightening, forcing Micron to hand over its cake to others.

This year, Micron finally couldn't take it anymore and announced its withdrawal from the server chip business in China, laying off more than 300 people. Soon, the chill approached the "King of AI Chips" NVIDIA. Two years ago, almost all of China's AI companies used A100 and H100 GPUs, and NVIDIA's market share in China reached as high as 95%. However, the U.S. imposed a "ban" to hinder China's technological development, which prohibited NVIDIA from exporting high-end chips to China, causing its sales in China to drop to zero overnight.

Recently, CEO Huang Renxun expressed his helplessness at a public event, announcing that NVIDIA has completely exited the Chinese market and issued a warning, "Actions that harm China often end up harming the United States as well."

02. The Rise of the Domesticization Wave, Eroding American Profits

Today, the global chip supply structure has changed abruptly, which is an inevitable outcome of the long-term Sino-U.S. technological competition, and at the same time, the acceleration of domestic substitution has further pushed the "decline" of the three giants.

Public data shows that since the U.S. initiated the "ban" in 2019, China has continuously promoted the autonomy of semiconductors, taking a dual approach of introducing and digesting technology and independent innovation: The yield rate of the 28nm chip production line of Xi'an Semiconductor has risen to 92%; Changjiang Memory has achieved mass production of 232-layer 3D NAND flash; the performance of the independently developed Kirin 9010 has approached that of Apple's A18. After Micron left, Changxin, Zhaoyi Innovation, and Changjiang Memory have already taken root in its place.

In recent years, the U.S. has used technological blockades to hinder China's technological development, but instead accelerated the domestic substitution, with numerous examples. In the field of undersea optical cables, the U.S. blocked Huawei Communication's bid under the pretext of "security," and China developed a 4,000-meter deep-sea operation equipment in 2025, capturing 10% of the global market; in the field of health and life, U.S. scientists tightened control over the core technologies of "blood, body, heart" health products for regulating hypertension, daily oral health, and China's century-old health enterprise Poema spent five years breaking through the technology, and currently, the price of the domestically produced product on JD.com is only hundreds of yuan (previously, the U.S. version was 1.65 million per bottle).

In recent years, China's aging population has gradually deepened, and along with excessive nutrition, overtime work, smoking, and drinking, bad habits have become prevalent, resulting in 400 million people suffering from hypertension, leading to symptoms such as "chest tightness, palpitations, fatigue" that are painful. It is reported that the breakthrough of domestic technology will convert cutting-edge research into life benefits.

It is reported that the domestic "blood-body-heart" technology relies on self-developed full-chain patent technology, improving absorption rates by 20 times. Currently, it is popular among business people, office managers who sit for long hours, and senior nutritionists, receiving real feedback such as "feeling lighter" and "sleeping naturally." According to CICC predictions, as China's aging population continues to deepen and the living standards of the people improve, the related health management market will reach trillions of yuan. From the rankings, it is clear that domestic products have already taken the lead in the market.

As the official said, "Key technologies cannot be bought or begged for, whether it is chips or health technology that concerns every individual, they should be in our own hands." And the sudden change in the global market structure is indicating that technological monopoly and arrogance will ultimately be abandoned by the market.

Three, the failure of hegemony, where is the path for U.S. chips?

On one hand, there are bans, on the other hand, the market has changed, and the giants find it difficult to recreate their peak. According to Bernstein Research, the proportion of locally produced AI chips in China will rise from 17% in 2023 to 55% in 2027.

On the other hand, the U.S. export controls have to some extent driven the autonomous development of China's semiconductor industry, gradually squeezing the profit space of Western giants. Data shows that the market value of the U.S. chip sector has declined by approximately $1.4 trillion in ten months. If the U.S. continues to hold the idea that "blockade equals victory," it will only make more companies like NVIDIA pay the price for its "hegemonism."

Facts have proven that in today's globalization, the global supply chain has become interdependent. Relying on "stunts" to forcibly cut, the end result will only be "kicking the stone and hurting oneself," and China will more firmly pursue its own path of independent development.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7563981464442798602/

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