ASML hard gas delivered lithography machines to China, hard bar to the United States

Mondo Technology Updated on 2024-01-19

ASML hard gas: Delivered lithography machines to China, hard bar to the United States.

Due to the U.S. sanctions, ASML has not had a good relationship with China's lithography machines, and it was not until recently that ASML gave lithography machines to China, and the main factor that prompted ASML to make this change is the current change in the world's semiconductor industry pattern.

i.ASML worries about the future.

ASML has the world's most cutting-edge lithography machine, which is their biggest competitive advantage, but as the world's semiconductor industry has entered a new cycle, many semiconductor companies have stopped production, even TSMC, has stopped the production of EUV lithography machines, which is why ASML lithography machines have been in short supply.

ASML used to be basically only the United States, but behind the United States, there are constantly American semiconductor companies betrayed, the United States Micron semiconductor manufacturing company 1 beta process to catch up with EUV lithography, the American lithography company Zyvex made an end to extreme ultraviolet lithography The ultimate **, ASML feels that it has received strong support from the United States, and the American company ASML feels that it has received strong support from the United States, and American companies will never let ASML go.

Secondly, with the development of semiconductor technology in Japan and China, the Japanese semiconductor industry has also begun to study the process of circumventing EUV lithography, and the NIL process, which was successful in the past, has now entered the 10 nm processChina has made progress in optical quantum chips, and China has started to build production lines for optical chips and quantum chips, while commercial ASML lithography has been phased out due to lack of market.

As one of the few high-tech enterprises in the Netherlands, ASML's revenue in 2021 is 186 billion euros, which is a considerable profit even for a small country like the Netherlands, and the decline of ASML has brought a heavy impact on the Dutch economy, because the semiconductor industry in the Netherlands is changing.

Therefore, recently the Dutch senior ** has stood up for ASML to speak: the Dutch Minister of Foreign Trade and Development and Cooperation Schreenae-Maher said that it will safeguard the financial rights and interests of Dutch enterprises and ensure the economic development of the Netherlands, it is said that the Netherlands has negotiated with the United States on ASML's free shipping rights, and now ASML has also sold lithography to China, which means that the Netherlands has made some progress.

ii.ASML is determined to go head-to-head with the United States.

While the world's chip industry is in a downturn and chip manufacturing projects are massively suspended, only China is still firmly expanding its chip production. In 2021, China's chip self-sufficiency capacity has exceeded 30%, and China has proposed to achieve 70% domestic production by 2025, which means that China will double its production in the next three years, while the demand for lithography equipment will remain high.

While ASML was struggling to sell lithography machines to China, China had already delivered 28 lithography machines, and Japanese companies had 21 lithography machines, compared to seven for domestic companies and none for ASML, which shows that China has made it clear that there are other countries in the world that can produce lithography machines besides ASML.

In fact, although ASML has become the world's first lithography machine company, Japan still has nearly 40% of the lithography machine, and Japanese lithography machine manufacturers have seized a large number of orders for Chinese lithography machines, ASML is also worried, until 2005, Japan's lithography machine can occupy 80% of the world's lithography machine.

For example, the United States has called on many of its allies to stop exporting chips to China that are higher than those of the United States, but has been seeking supply authorization from Chinese companies since the past year because of their reduced performanceQualcomm has also started supplying 4G dedicated chips to Chinese technology companiesRecently, Nvidia conducted a special R&D of a custom graphics processor A800 in ChinaShin Shin Technology provides dedicated EDA programs for Chinese companies, etc. These are signs that the United States is trying to monopolize the Chinese market.

All of this caused ASML to think, and with great help from the Netherlands, it soon changed its mind and provided lithography equipment to China. ASML has said before that it will increase the production capacity of EUV lithography machines and deep ultraviolet lithography machines, and now the world's semiconductor industry has come to a standstill, and ASML's move has been interpreted by the outside world as that ASML is providing large-scale lithography machines for China, which can be said to be prepared to face off with the United States.

With the decline of the world's semiconductor industry, many semiconductor companies are busy for this winter, and China, as the world's largest buyer, will naturally not miss any opportunity, because once they lose this land, they will lose the opportunity.

Especially in Europe, at that time, there were many semiconductor companies in Europe that competed with American chip companies, such as Ericsson, but Qualcomm took its own chip market from Ericsson with its technological advantages, which made the European semiconductor industry ponder: Now, it is time to think about ASML and how to avoid the previous mistakes.

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