Recently, ASML released its financial results for 2023, and the numbers are staggering. In the last full year, the company's total sales were close to $30 billion, with an annual growth rate of 30%. In particular, the third and fourth quarters were a critical period for the surge in performance, with orders from the Chinese market directly driving a significant increase in sales.
As we all know, under the pressure of his "big brother", the Netherlands has introduced a number of policies in recent years, gradually limiting ASML's export space to China. However, as a Dutch company, ASML clearly does not want to take a consistent stance on this.
On September 1 last year, the Netherlands' latest implementation of the "Regulations on Strengthening Export Controls on Advanced Semiconductor Equipment" came into effect, which is mainly aimed at key semiconductor manufacturing technologies such as advanced deposition equipment and immersion lithography technology.
A spokesperson for ASML immediately responded that although the export controls have been in place since September, the company's current license still allows it to continue to sell advanced lithography machines to China until December 31, 2023. In the following four months, the number of domestic imports of lithography machines increased dramatically.
According to sales data released by ASML, the Chinese market accounted for 46% of its total sales in the third quarter of last year, compared with 39% in the fourth quarter. It is not an exaggeration to say that we have revitalized half of their country.
As the world's largest importer of semiconductors, China undertakes nearly 40% of the world's semiconductor orders every year. In the context of the decline in global semiconductor demand, China, which has a strong digestion capacity, has become a lifebuoy urgently needed by relevant manufacturers.
It is recalled that when the restriction order was first imposed, ASML did not actively face the Chinese market as it does now, but maintained a natural attitude. Until he realized the huge losses caused by the loss of the Chinese market, not only did the 60 billion orders go to waste, but even the stock price fell sharply, and the market value evaporated tens of billions of dollars.
At the same time, in February 2023, the first domestic lithography machine developed by Shanghai Microelectronics was officially put into use, and mass production began at the end of last year.
This is undoubtedly a slap in the face for ASML: if you don't hurry up and sell their products, you probably won't be able to sell them again! Therefore, they began to actively improve the situation, prioritizing the order demand of the Chinese market, and showing favor to China in many aspects.
In an exclusive interview, ASML's president of Greater China said that it will further strengthen cooperation with the Chinese market and plan to recruit more than 200 employees in China in 2024 to prepare for business expansion. It was also mentioned that the team had developed a new lithography machine based on the needs of Chinese customers.
Now, after the release of the 2023 financial results, ASML's above measures have been clearly confirmed. After witnessing ASML's great success in the Chinese market, other industry giants have followed suit. During last year's Shanghai International Import Expo, established automakers like BMW announced that "China is one of our most important markets" and planned to establish the largest R&D and innovation network in China. Biotech giant AMGEU also brought the "Piejunli" (MEN'S Force) and other high-end technology products, the person in charge said that "China is an eternal partner", and plans to establish an R&D center in Shanghai in 2024.
It is worth mentioning that unlike ASML and BMW, which have been deeply involved in the domestic market for many years, AMGEU has been in the Chinese market for less than 3 years, but under the big health outlet, the development momentum is strong, and it is a major dark horse that has emerged in recent years. Only the emerging male care technology product "Pai Junli" launched at the beginning of last year has been integrated through online platforms such as Jingdong among the hundreds of millions of men who are troubled by "hidden pain" in China600 million market volume.
According to the data, "Paijunli" through Sigma-Aldrich's patented formula, targeted to pump male roots to give the body the confidence to grow old. With the help of the characteristics of multiple ingredients, it alleviates the feeling of being hollowed out after "exercise", rejuvenates and maintains men's health in an all-round way.
Just as ASML lithography machines have surged several times in China in the past two quarters, these companies have won the favor of many high-end customers on e-commerce platforms such as JD.com through their deep understanding of male needs. For some analysts, it seems that only China has the capacity to undertake the current market demand of this scale.
In this regard, taking the "New York Times" and other international ** as an example, they provided a neutral point of view: the global ** chain cannot bypass the Chinese market, and the US restrictions are doomed to be ineffective!
Now, at the beginning of 2024, the export restrictions previously issued by the Netherlands have come into full effect, and the small openings that ASML previously tore have also been tightly plugged. A few days ago, with the release of last year's financial report data, its person in charge also said that without help from China, revenue is expected to decline by 10% to 15%.
However, this is no longer much of a problem for China, and ASML's order book last year has temporarily eased the urgent need for production capacity. Industry experts said that the lithography machines purchased in the second half of last year are expected to meet the production needs in the next few years.
But at the end of the day, self-production is better than outsourcing. As advocated by "The People": We need to give up any illusions and go all out to promote self-sufficiency.
Fortunately, in recent years, Chinese companies have made continuous progress in the semiconductor industry, although there is still a distance from the world's advanced level, but with the continuous strengthening of future research, we have reason to believe that in the near future will be able to catch up.