Preface
Having experienced the chip being "stuck in the neck", we know that the chip field is not only very important in the key technical part of research and development, but also in the production and production of key components of the chip.
In other words, I want to make a good chip. R&D technology and production technology are indispensable.
Among them, an extremely important machine for the production of chips is the lithography machine, which has a high-precision lithography machine, which has a decisive role in the accuracy of chip production and even whether it can produce chips.
Once upon a time, the mainland could not produce chips, and one of the most important reasons was that the mainland did not have and could not build high-precision lithography machines independently, so it could only import from abroad, and even could only purchase lithography machines with low precision, which greatly limited the development of the mainland chip field.
I believe you also know that if you want to make the most advanced chips, what you need is the EUV lithography machine, which is the highest precision lithography machine at present. Moreover, this machine is currently only available to one company, and I believe everyone knows that it is ASML.
As the only seedling in the manufacture of EUV lithography machines, ASML has carried forward in this field and brought great economic benefits to itself and the country.
We know that ASML is headquartered in the Netherlands, and the development of ASML has brought great benefits to the Netherlands.
But recently, there was news that ASML was preparing to leave the Netherlands because it was dissatisfied with the policies of the new Dutch leader. Dutch officials even set up a special operations group in response to this, wanting to keep ASML and prevent them from leaving.
So what's going on? Let's take a look!
1. Dissatisfied with the policy and planning to leave
What is the policy that can force ASML to leave the Netherlands and expand and migrate to other places so decisively?
This starts with the political forces within the Netherlands. The internal political bloc in the Netherlands is divided into left and right, with politicians on the right advocating measures such as curbing immigration, studying abroad, and reducing tax breaks for foreigners in the Netherlands.
And just last November, the Dutch far-right populist Wilders led the German Freedom Party to victory in the Dutch parliamentary election, and it was a big victory.
As for Wilders, who is known as the "Dutch Trump", he has claimed that if he is in power, he will not only follow the consistent right-wing views, but also openly oppose Islam and the European Union, and even launch a vote on whether the Netherlands should leave the European Union.
At ASML, 9,200 of its 23,000 employees are non-Dutch nationals, accounting for 40 percent. In addition, a large part of the company's high-end talents are overseas students who are employed in the Netherlands.
This "immigration restriction" in the Netherlands directly touched the main artery of ASML and aroused ASML's huge dissatisfaction.
ASML's CEO has also warned: "The consequences of restricting the migration of labor are immeasurable, and if the Dutch authorities insist on not being able to recruit employees, they will have to go elsewhere." ”
The Dutch Minister of Economy, Adriansens, was very anxious about this situation and negotiated with ASML, and had a very intensive dialogue in the hope of resolving the issue and leaving ASML behind.
Adriansens also said: "ASML's desire to continue to develop puts pressure on the Dutch infrastructure and hopes that the problem can be solved through dialogue".
2. ASML is the only one
Why do Dutch officials attach so much importance to ASML? is the fear of the huge blow to the Dutch economy after ASML leaves the Netherlands.
In recent years, the business environment in the Netherlands has been very worrisome, and the dissatisfaction of Chinese people with the market environment is also increasing day by day. Earlier, multinationals and Unilever had already moved out of the Netherlands.
The Netherlands could no longer afford the economic losses that ASML would suffer if it left the country, so they actively communicated and wanted to stay with ASML
Not only that, but the Netherlands retained ASML because of ASML's important position and huge ability to bring economic benefits.
We know this from publicly available information. ASML is the third largest company in Europe by market capitalization. That's close to 365 billion euros. In 2023, ASML also set a new record, achieving revenue of 27.6 billion euros, an increase of 30% compared to 2022.
In the field of chips, ASML is also well-known. The famous EVA lithography machine can only be manufactured by ASML, which can be a "monopoly"
As a supplier in the semiconductor industry, ASML is in a very leading position, and ASML has not only promoted the upgrading of lithography machines, but also updated the lithography machine systems to a higher degree. So that the manufactured chips can be smaller, faster, and more environmentally friendly.
This is the reason why ASML can bring huge economic benefits, and it is no wonder that Dutch officials are so "retained".
epilogue
A country's policy has a significant impact on the country's business environment and the development of various enterprises, once the policy is wrong, it will cause many enterprises to be dissatisfied and revolt, we can know from the Netherlands.
In the end, it will be interesting to see whether ASML will move out of the Netherlands or stay under the persuasion of Dutch officials.
What are your thoughts on this? Feel free to leave a message to participate in the discussion.