ASML wants to deliver euv chip machine for 170 wafers per hour in the second half of 2019

ASML reaffirmed in the presentation of its quarterly results that the NXE:3400C is expected to be available to customers in the second half of this year. According to the company, this EUV machine is capable of processing 170 wafers per hour.

Veldhoven-based ASML says in an explanation of the quarterly figures that the first set of optical elements for the NXE:3400C machine is currently in the factory. According to the company, these higher transmission optics lead to the higher throughput of 170 wafers per hour. ASML assumes that this will lead to cost savings in the production of dram and processors.

When presenting the quarterly figures, ASML makes a comparison between the fourth quarter of last year and the now completed first quarter of this year. It shows that the company sold 58 new lithography systems in the last quarter of 2018, compared to 43 in the last quarter. According to the company, four EUV systems were delivered to customers in the past quarter.

ASML achieved a turnover of 2.23 billion euros in the first quarter. This is the lowest turnover in two years. It is also significantly less than in the previous two quarters and slightly less than in the same quarter a year ago, but according to director Peter Wennink this result is still positive, because lower turnover was expected. The profit amounted to 355 million euros, while it was roughly twice as much in the previous quarters. In the first quarter of 2018, a profit of 642 million euros was achieved.

Looking ahead, ASML reports that it expects turnover to amount to 2.5 or 2.6 billion euros and to reach a profit margin of 41 or 42 percent. This means that the profit margin, the ratio between turnover and profit, is comparable to that of the past quarter. Sales of EUV chip machines should yield approximately 600 million euros in the second quarter.