As the core element of the global industry, the current global chip shortage is still continuing. According to the news of the Global Network on January 21, Asmay CEO Peter Wen said a few days ago that it is unlikely that China will build a top lithography machine alone. Peter Win claimed that Asma's supply chain did not involve Chinese manufacturers, and Asmai carried out a lot of independent innovation, which made it impossible for China to reproduce the top lithography machine.
Asma has a monopoly position in the global high-end lithography machine industry, its revenue in 2021 will reach 18.6 billion euros, of which about one-third will come from the EUV lithography machine, a device that only Asma has mastered. Under the situation that the world is in a chip shortage and the supply of chips is in short supply, Asmay's revenue increased by 33% year-on-year, net profit increased by 66% year-on-year, and profit margin exceeded 50%.
These 3 sets of figures show that in the chip shortage of sellers' market, Asma is ushering in rapid expansion. According to reports, Asma expects that the market situation of chip shortage will continue for 2-3 years, and from 2025 to 2026, the supply and demand situation in the chip market may reverse. Following last year's staff expansion, Asma is still expanding its workforce and expects its global workforce to reach 35,000 by the end of 2022.
Among asma's global buyers, China accounted for about 27% in December 2021, ranking third. This is not because the Chinese market is not large enough, but due to the obstruction of the United States, EUV and other advanced lithography machine equipment that applies American parts is not allowed to be exported to China.
China is the world's largest industrial country and the world's largest importer of chips. Following China's annual chip imports of more than $300 billion in 2018, due to the trade war, the new crown epidemic and other factors, China's chip imports in 2021 are expected to exceed $400 billion, which is even larger than China's crude oil imports in 2021.
For some time, the "frequent fire" of chip manufacturers such as Samsung and Hynix has boosted the further rise in chip prices. Recent events have shown that Asmail also seems to have the meaning of "repeating the same technique" of this method.
It is understood that there has been a fire in the German factory of Asma Company again recently, and it is worth noting that Asma has not disclosed the specific information of the fire accident, nor has it specified whether the fire accident will have a systematic impact on its lithography machine supply. As the core of chip manufacturing, in the long run, the fire accident at the beginning of the new year of Asmak Company may play a role in boosting the price of chips throughout 2022. This is obviously not good news for China, which has a "daily supply" of chip demand.
Asma is also developing the latest lithography machine capable of manufacturing 2nm or more process chips, which is expected to be completed in 2023, and Intel Corporation of the United States, which is the earliest pre-orderer of this batch of lithography machines. Industry insiders said that Intel must have spent a lot of money to obtain this qualification, and there are not a few competitors behind it.
The reason why Intel can obtain the first booking qualification is probably also the same behind the help of a person behind the scenes - the US government. The United States forced global chipmakers to hand over confidential supply chain information in October and threatened sanctions against disobedients, and Intel, the United States, is clearly the beneficiary behind the US government's powerful intervention.
China's annual trade surplus in 2021 exceeded $670 billion, and the large import of chips is clearly a major source of Wealth Loss in China. In the case of frequent price increases in the price of chips due to "fire" and other reasons, China's core needs to further strengthen itself.
China's science and technology needs to further strengthen the pace of breakthrough and attack, with greater development results, and better serve the Chinese people.