ASML posts record revenue from high demand machines for memory

The Brabant chip machine manufacturer ASML has achieved its highest annual turnover to date. The good figures are largely due to good sales of machines for memory chips. ASML expects to deliver six euv machines this year.

ASML’s record 2014 revenue was 5.86 billion euros, with an annual profit of 1.20 billion euros, compared to 1.02 billion in 2013. In the last quarter of 2014, ASML’s results were better than expected due to the growth of the memory market and The group also expects good results in the first half of 2015 due to the continued demand for machines for memory chips. In addition, sales of machines for the production of processors will increase in the first half of 2015 compared to the second half of 2014, ASML CEO Peter Wennink expects.

ASML received orders for 51 machines in the last quarter of 2014, representing a value of 1.39 billion euros. 65 percent of sales come from processor manufacturing foundries and 27 percent from the memory market.

In addition to machines for immersion lithography, ASML supplies machines for production based on euv lithography. These should ensure a switch to smaller production processes and maintain Moore’s Law. At the end of 2014, ASML delivered seven euv-NXE:3300B machines for test production.

Taiwanese chip manufacturer TSMC ordered two NXE:3350B systems that will be delivered in 2015 and will be used for actual production. This probably concerns 10nm production, for which manufacturers will use both traditional immersion lithography and the euv successor. ASML expects to deliver a total of six NXE:3350B machines in 2015 and to convert three NXE:3300B models to NXE:3350B variants.