'Super Eul' ASML Sold 42 EUV Machines Last Year... "No Impact from Factory Fire"

Peter Wennink, CEO of ASML [Photo by Reuters]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] ASML, the 'super subordinate' of the semiconductor industry from the Netherlands that manufactures extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography equipment essential for advanced semiconductor processes, announced that it supplied 42 EUV machines last year. Although a fire recently broke out at its Berlin factory in Germany, the impact was minimal. Domestic companies such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, as well as global semiconductor companies like TSMC and Intel, are fiercely competing to secure EUV equipment, leading to an expected 20% increase in ASML's sales this year compared to the previous year.

On the 19th (local time), ASML announced its 2021 performance, reporting annual sales of 18.6 billion euros and a net profit of 5.9 billion euros. The annual sales included 6.3 billion euros from EUV equipment sales. The number of units sold annually increased by 11 from 31 in 2020 to 42, with quarterly sales of 7 units in Q1, 9 units in Q2, 15 units in Q3, and 11 units in Q4.

Peter Wennink, ASML's Chief Executive Officer (CEO), stated, "High demand in the end market is requiring our customers to increase wafer output, resulting in demand exceeding ASML's production capacity." He added, "Even considering that six EUV machines will be shipped early and recorded as next year's sales, we expect sales to increase by about 20% compared to last year."

ASML revealed that to meet demand, it is developing upgrade solutions to improve the productivity of existing systems and is also undertaking additional work to produce more systems. They are also working on eliminating the Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) stage before shipment, allowing final testing to be conducted at the customer's site.

Regarding the recent fire at the Berlin factory in Germany, ASML stated in this earnings announcement that "it is judged that there will be no significant impact on this year's sales." On the 9th, they said they would minimize the impact on production and services and would issue further statements later, which is interpreted as indicating no major disruption to supply.

Meanwhile, ASML announced that it recently decided to strengthen collaboration with its customer Intel. Intel became the first company to order ASML's High-NA (Numerical Aperture) EUV mass production equipment. This equipment is based on an EUV mass production system that provides productivity of over 200 wafers per hour. Martin van den Brink, ASML's Chief Technology Officer (CTO), explained, "Through the High-NA system-based EUV, ASML is working to reduce complexity and improve costs, equipment production time, and energy usage."