CEO of ASML: It is unlikely that China will develop top-of-the-line lithography technology independently

IT House, Jan. 21 , according to Reuters, the CEO of ASML Holding NV said on Wednesday that the company still has not obtained permission to ship its most advanced lithography systems to Chinese mainland, which are necessary to make advanced computer chips.

Peter Wennink, CEO of ASML, believes that it is unlikely that China will independently replicate top-level lithography technology because ASML relies on "relentless innovation" and some components are only available from non-Chinese suppliers.

"I'm not saying no, because I know the laws of physics are the same in China as they are here," he said. "Never say forever. They will definitely try. ”

IT House learned that asML, a near-monopoly in the lithography machine market, is not restricted from exporting slightly older technologies to Chinese mainland. In 2021, approximately $2.2 billion, or 16 percent of ASML sales, will come from Chinese mainland.

According to the latest financial report, ASML's fourth-quarter revenue was 4.986 billion euros (about 35.9 billion yuan), of which 11 EUV lithography machines were sold, and sales were 1.6 billion euros (about 11.5 billion yuan).

For the full year, ASML generated €18.6 billion (about 133.9 billion yuan) and sold 42 EUV lithography machines, accounting for 46 percent of the 13.6 billion euros (97.9 billion yuan) of lithography machine sales. In addition, ASML received orders of 26.2 billion euros (about 188.6 billion yuan) in 2021, an increase of more than 200% year-on-year.