ASML records record turnover with ten new orders for euv machines

ASML achieved record turnover in 2017. Turnover rose to 9 billion euros and profit amounted to 2.1 billion euros. The manufacturer of chip machines from Veldhoven received ten new orders for EUV machines in the fourth quarter of 2017.

ASML now has a total of orders for the delivery of 28 euv machines on its books. Together with those for other machines, the orders represent a value of 6.7 billion euros. In the fourth quarter of 2017, ASML delivered four euv machines. The company planned to ship twelve EUV systems throughout 2017; that ended up being ten. In 2018, the number of deliveries should increase to 22 and in 2019 the company aims to deliver at least 30, using the maximum production capacity by then.

Last year, according to ASML CEO Peter Wennink, there was a turning point at chipmakers, who then converted their confidence in ASML’s euv technology into a significant amount of orders. However, the EUV machine division was still loss-making in 2017, although it reached break-even point in the fourth quarter, which the CEO believes is an indication that EUV profitability is heading in the right direction.

TSMC and Samsung, among others, want to use the machines for mass production in 2018 and 2019. According to ASML, for profitable production, the throughput must be at least 125 wafers per hour, something the company is working hard on. In addition, the availability must be at ninety percent.

The manufacturers want to switch to euv to be able to apply smaller structures on the silicon cost-effectively. The use of the current 193nm immersion lithography to make complex chips becomes too expensive and time-consuming from 7nm onwards. ASML’s euv machines use extreme ultraviolet light with a significantly shorter wavelength of 13.5nm to be able to describe thinner lines in one pass.

ASML’s annual turnover in 2016 was still 6.8 billion. The profit was then 1.5 billion euros.