According to an earlier report by Nikkei, the reason why TSMC can beat Samsung in advanced technology is mainly because they grabbed 70% of ASML’s equipment before Samsung. Since ASML is the only company in the world that can provide EUV equipment at this industrial scale, Samsung has lost a lot of fundamental advantages over TSMC, which TSMC will undoubtedly use to further widen the technological gap between itself and its competitors. This is why Samsung leaders frequently visited the Dutch lithography giant before.

As can be seen from the Nikkei report, ASML has shipped about 100 EUV lithography machines so far.

ASML will go to South Korea to build a factory, Samsung ushered in a new opportunity?

According to reports, South Korea’s Ministry of Industry, Trade and Energy (MOTIE) announced that Dutch semiconductor equipment giant ASML plans to invest 240 billion won (about 210 million US dollars) in South Korea in the next four years to build an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) remanufacturing plant and training center. park.

The report pointed out that within the next four years, ASML plans to build an EUV equipment park in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, including a remanufacturing factory and a training center. The new facility is expected to be completed in 2025 and plans to employ 300 professionals locally in South Korea.

ASML is the world’s only manufacturer of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) equipment, which is mainly used in semiconductor production. The company’s lithography equipment costs more than $100 million each and is used by semiconductor manufacturers such as Samsung, Intel, and TSMC to help manufacture chips. , is an essential equipment for manufacturing, but the annual output is between 30 and 40 units.

The report pointed out that ASML’s remanufacturing plant in South Korea will be used to upgrade EUV equipment already operating locally in South Korea. The training center, which is expected to be used to train equipment operation engineers, will also bring good news to domestic semiconductor companies in South Korea. In addition, the business relationship between ASML and South Korean customers is also expected to be strengthened.

ASML shipped nine extreme ultraviolet (EUV) machines in the first quarter, but only confirmed revenue for seven first, totaling EUR 1.1 billion. The company expects total sales of EUV machines to grow 30 percent this year compared to 2020.

In response to this decision, there are actually many discussions outside, but ASML told the “China Electronics News” reporter that South Korean customers have corresponding needs, so ASML chose to build a nearby factory to provide services for it. ASML said that there is no need to over-interpret this point.