This year has given us a breathing opportunity to quickly make up for the 'debts' we owe to customers and the Chinese market in the past year or two. "When discussing the operation in the Chinese market in 2023, Shen Bo, Global Senior Vice President and China President of Dutch lithography giant ASML (ASML), said.
In November 2023, Dutch lithography giant ASML will participate in the China International Import Expo for the sixth time. On the occasion of the exhibition, Shen Bo accepted interviews with media such as First Financial and responded to several topics of market concern.
I owe a lot of money
In the first half of this year, the weakness of consumer electronics hit global semiconductor companies hard.
According to the latest Q3 financial reports released by various key companies recently, ASML is one of the few companies that can withstand the cold winter. In Shen Bo's words, this situation is to some extent "lucky".
Lithography machines belong to the category of equipment with the longest production and delivery cycles in the entire chip industry, so when the industry's prosperity declines, we may be the last to feel it - because chip equipment manufacturers with short production and delivery cycles will immediately stop placing orders. However, when the industry starts to recover, we are the first to see it - because customers feel that the industry is about to start to recover, they will come to lithography machine companies Book the machines for the next year and start to demand production capacity Shen Bo introduced.
The reason we say 'lucky' is because we have a higher probability of avoiding industry lows. Although we may remain silent for a while if the trough is long, we cannot feel it if the market trough is short, "he added.
According to Shen Bo, due to insufficient production capacity, ASML currently has approximately 35 billion euros in outstanding orders, which were placed in 2021 and 2022. We owe a lot of money in the past two years
Shen Bo stated that many of the aforementioned 35 billion euros in backlog orders come from China. At the second and third quarter financial reports of 2023, ASML executives discussed the contribution of DUV lithography machine orders from the Chinese market to ASML's performance.
Customers with larger production capacity are more sensitive to this industry and have greater fluctuations in demand. This is why when the market cycle goes down, there is a significant fluctuation in demand outside of China. However, for Chinese customers, we are still in the early stages, and there is currently a strong demand for mature processes in China. Many customers have told us that this order needs to be delivered as soon as possible. This is why ASML has shipped more in the Chinese market this year Increase significantly Shen Bo said. This year has given us a breathing opportunity to quickly make up for the 'debts' we owe to customers and the Chinese market in the past year or two, "he added.
The Chinese market has shown strong demand for semiconductor products with mature processes, and ASML has shown a relatively open attitude.
In the field of mature manufacturing processes, to achieve a highly competitive level in the Chinese market worldwide, we still have a lot of work to do for a considerable period of time in the future. Especially in the current environment, all aspects of the industrial chain need to work together, "Shen Bo said.
Calling for the establishment of China's IMEC
From the first machine entered China in 1988 to the end of 2023, ASML sold nearly 1400 lithography machines and measuring machines to China.
According to Shen Bo, the company's business in China will further focus on maintenance, services, and product development in the future. The company will also increase its recruitment of maintenance and service personnel in China in the next two years.
Shen Bo encourages Chinese semiconductor companies to place their competitive foothold globally. There is no company in the semiconductor industry that can be said to be (purely) local, and all companies need to participate in global competition. The only criterion for measuring a company's performance is whether it has the ability to compete globally
Therefore, Shen Bo believes that all semiconductor equipment companies in China should be positioned as international companies. Once the company's level and capabilities reach the level of an international enterprise, it will have its own position in the production system and industry chain of the entire industry.
When discussing the communication between ASML and Chinese industry enterprises, Shen Bo said, "In China, we have some communication with our peers, but it is not a systematic or systematic communication
He specifically mentioned the IMEC Microelectronics Research Center in Belgium in the interview and called on the Chinese market to follow suit and build similar platforms.
We and our peers have a complete R&D production line there. For new technologies and the division of labor in various stages, we and customers in the industry can study together there. Systematic communication with the industry requires a technical platform as a support, "Shen Bo said.