ASML says impossible to decouple chip supply chain from the world

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On June 22, 2023, a senior executive fromASML, the world's leading chip equipment maker, stated that it would beextremely difficult, expensive, and perhaps impossible to separate the globalsemiconductor supply chain. Christophe Fouquet, ASML's executive vice presidentand chief business officer, explained in an interview that no single country couldsuccessfully establish its own fully independent chip industry. ASML believesthat cooperation is the key to success in the semiconductor industry, asopposed to pursuing isolation. Fouquet emphasized that the notion of going italone would be extremely challenging. ASML's production is primarily based inVeldhoven, Netherlands.

Fouquet made these comments as majoreconomies, including the U.S., Japan, the European Union, India, and China, arestriving to bring vital semiconductor production back to their respectivecountries in an effort to achieve self-sufficiency in chip manufacturing.

According to Fouquet, ASML's success can beattributed to its long-standing collaborations with critical global supplierssuch as Zeiss and Cymer, as well as support from its top customers, TaiwanSemiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Intel. ASML specializes in producingcutting-edge chip equipment called extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithographymachines, which enable the production of advanced semiconductors below the 7-nanometerlevel. ASML's machines play a crucial role in manufacturing chips used inpremium devices like the iPhone 14 Pro and Nvidia's graphic processors.

ASML's suppliers, Zeiss and Cymer, provideessential components for the EUV machine. ASML's competitors, Nikon and Canonfrom Japan, and Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment from China, currentlycannot match ASML's capabilities in cutting-edge lithography. The United Statesdoes not have domestic manufacturers of chip lithography equipment.

Fouquet highlighted ASML's preference forusing the best global suppliers, allowing them to work faster and moreeffectively. However, for certain sophisticated components, ASML believes it isbest to have only one supplier. Fouquet explained that the investment in obtainingEUV optics from Zeiss is substantial, and having multiple suppliers would makethe costs unworkable. When it comes to less advanced technology, ASML mayconsider using multiple suppliers.

The majority of ASML's production takesplace at its headquarters in the Netherlands, and Fouquet expects thisarrangement to continue until at least 2026. ASML believes that keepingresearch and development (R&D) and manufacturing together is crucial. Thecompany has more than 14,000 R&D employees and a total of 37,643 employeesworldwide as of the end of 2022.

ASML operates repair centers and awarehouse at its global headquarters, where used components fromolder-generation machines are categorized and collected. The company aims toreuse 95% of its parts by 2025 and is expanding repair centers near itschipmaking customers to reduce carbon emissions.

ASML collaborates closely with otherleading chip equipment manufacturers, such as Tokyo Electron, Lam Research, andApplied Materials, as their machines need to work together to form a completechip production line. The cooperation begins early in the machine developmentstage, and all parties rely on each other.

Fouquet emphasized that duplicating ASML'slithography machines would be highly challenging for competitors due to thecomplex design and the company's substantial investment in their development.ASML is regarded as the world's most valuable semiconductor equipment company,with a market capitalization of around $288 billion. It is also the third-most-valuablecompany in the European Union. Despite the chip industry downturn, ASML expectsstrong growth in 2023, with net sales projected to increase over 25% and aslight improvement in gross margin compared to 2022.

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