ASML reveals the secret to leading the semiconductor industry is global collaboration

By contrast, decoupling the global semiconductor supply chain is “extremely difficult and expensive,” if not impossible.

Any single country will face challenges in realizing the dream of self-sufficiency in the semiconductor industry, said Christophe Fouquet, vice president and chief operating officer of the world's most valuable chip foundry equipment maker.

ASML's corporate headquarters are located in Veldhoven, a town in the southern Netherlands.

“At ASML, we don’t believe that separation is possible. People will realize that there is only one way to succeed in this industry: collaboration,” Fouquet said.

The comments by ASML's senior leaders come as many major economies such as the US, Japan, the European Union, India and China are promoting domestic semiconductor production in the hope of achieving chip autonomy.

According to Fouquet, the secret to ASML's success is its long-standing partnerships with key global suppliers such as Zeiss (which supplies optical components) and Cymer (which supplies light sources in ultraviolet lithography machines), as well as support from major customers such as TSMC and Intel.

The company is expanding its headquarters to manufacture next-generation ultraviolet lithography machines.

ASML is the world's exclusive maker of advanced semiconductor equipment, extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines for chips below 7 nanometers. The mobile chips in the high-end iPhone 14 Pro and Nvidia's graphics processors are both built on 4nm technology, with the Dutch manufacturer's machines playing an integral role.

None of ASML’s competitors, including Nikon and Canon (Japan) or Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment (China), are currently competitive in the field of advanced lithography. Meanwhile, the US does not even have a domestic company that produces this equipment.

While open to cross-border collaboration, ASML believes that some of the most complex components are better off with just one supplier. “The investment in Zeiss for EUV optics is huge. You can’t afford to do that spread out.”

Currently, the majority of ASML’s production is done at a single facility, which is also the company’s headquarters. Fouquet says it could retain most, between 80% and 90%, of its production there until at least 2026.

ASML said it also works closely with other leading chip equipment makers, such as Tokyo Electron, Lam Research and Applied Materials, as the machines need to be linked together to form a complete production line. The collaboration is carried out from the early stages of the R&D process, so the parties have a very high level of dependence.

“We exchange necessary information with our partners. Dependence sometimes helps, otherwise companies get into trouble,” Fouquet shared.

(According to NikkeiAsia)

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