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-< > foreword-
Ten days ago, the United States once again resorted to means to "hack China" and planned to put pressure on the Netherlands to ask ASML not to provide maintenance services for some Chinese equipment.
Just yesterday, the CEO of ASML responded to this, claiming that nothing could stop them from providing services to China.
So why would ASML rather choose to offend the United States than stick to its choice?
-< the domineering American >-
If you ask which country has not been able to see China's good development and resort to various means to restrict it, then the United States should be on the list.
For some time, the Biden administration has been pointing the finger at various industries in China, from cars to drones to mobile phones and various apps, making a splash every once in a while.
Especially in the semiconductor industry, the United States can be said to do everything, constantly increasing various restrictions on China's chip exports, and the pressure is getting stronger and stronger.
After all, the lithography machine giant is in the Netherlands, and most of the companies specializing in various chemicals needed to manufacture chips are also in Japan and South Korea.
In addition, China is the world's largest semiconductor and discount market, and the loss of the Chinese market means the loss of a major customer.
As long as we reach friendly cooperation with these countries, it seems that it will not have a great impact on us.
However, the United States does not seem to have a left-handed side-watching style, so it tried its best to win over the Netherlands, Japan and other countries very early to form a so-called "chip alliance" and adopt various sanctions against China.
They have also banned China from obtaining some chip-making technology under the banner of "national security", which is tantamount to driving us to a dead end.
And at the beginning of April, the United States began to be anxious as it watched the measures of its allies gradually liberalize, and with the US election approaching, the Biden administration had to do something to increase its own possibilities.
In order to fill the loopholes in the previous regulations, the U.S. government asked the Netherlands not to buy various services and repairs for sensitive chip manufacturing equipment before providing Chinese customers.
So, what is the Netherlands' response?
-< ASML hard gas response >-
If ASML really chooses to listen to the United States and stop providing us with any repair services, it is not a good thing for us.
As a global lithography machine giant, ASML has the world's most advanced lithography machine and plays a pivotal role in the semiconductor industry.
The lithography machine is the core equipment for manufacturing chips, which is indispensable for the development of chips.
Precisely because ASML is the only company with EUV lithography machine technology, its attitude in the face of US pressure is very important.
Because the lithography machine needs to be repaired and protected within a certain period of time, this requires the manufacturer ASML to repair.
Therefore, in order to prevent us from realizing the 7nm process, the United States has asked the Netherlands to ban services.
As a result, the Dutch reaction did not go as the United States had hoped, and yesterday ASML's CEO responded after the release of the Q1 2924 earnings report.
CEO Wennink said that there is nothing to prevent ASML from providing services to China, that is, directly rejecting the unreasonable request of the United States, and this unstoppable momentum also shows us ASML's determination.
But in fact, earlier, although ASML did not directly state, it also indirectly rejected the United States and responded with a cold reaction.
Dutch officials even pointed out that they should adopt a "cautious" attitude toward this matter, and they may not be desperate to support the United States and use technology to restrict China's development.
However, although ASML did not directly agree, it did not completely refuse, but refused to comment on the matter.
So, what made ASML so determined?
-Why did < change his attitude?>-
Perhaps from the very beginning, ASML did not want to participate in this war without gunpowder, after all, where there is a market should be a key consideration for businessmen.
And just yesterday, the news of ASML's sudden thunderstorm rushed to the hot search overnight.
It turned out that in the first quarter of this year's financial report, ASML's results were miserable, with net sales falling from 7.2 billion euros to 5.3 billion euros, net profit falling by 800 million euros, and new orders falling by more than 60% quarter-on-quarter.
If I were the CEO, I would probably get old and angry.
And after the earnings report was released, ASML's stock price was also affected, once falling by more than 11%.
Why is this so, in fact, it has something to do with the economic downturn in recent years, some customers dare not place drastic orders, and the United States has hindered it from causing major customers to be affected in China.
From the financial report, we can also find that ASML's revenue from China is nearly half of its total revenue, which can be said to be its largest market.
So this may also be the reason why ASML can make up its mind.
Because if they really choose to listen to the United States, they will have a greater loss, after all, more than a quarter of ASML's profits come from various after-sales services of installed equipment.
And China's future demand for lithography machines will also be stronger with the increase in production capacity, for ASML, if you don't grasp it, it will really be a loss of watermelon and sesame seeds.
If we become more and more self-sufficient, then not to mention the Netherlands, even the United States will not be able to jump up.
In such a situation, perhaps only cooperation can achieve a win-win situation......
-< cooperation can be a win-win situation>-
The development of chips is long and difficult, but China will never be defeated by the difficulties ahead.
Thinking about the days when we were poor and white, we were more bitter, tired and had no opportunities, but we still grew up little by little, and achieved breakthroughs from scratch and from zero to one.
And the United States should know that the more we were restricted, the better we would develop.
Of course, the same is true for chips, but it's a pity that the United States is obsessed, and the Dutch ASML can be a little more sober.
In the chip industry, the United States seems to have developed it into a major tool for trade restrictions with China.
Although this has more or less had an impact on our chip-related application market, these effects are only temporary, after all, we are the world's largest chip market, and if we completely block our way, it will only backfire on them in the end.
Over the years, China has been stepping up its own research and development and has created many technological breakthroughs.
The fact that last year's Huawei Mate 60 Pro was released during the US Secretary of Commerce's visit to China is enough to show that we already have the ability to produce chips up to 7nm.
With the continuous development of China's chip industry, there will be more and more possibilities.
If you don't want your own interests to be harmed, then you should understand a truth, that is, suppressing China through all kinds of bad means will not stop China's pace, and only cooperation can make everyone win.
Fighting to the death is a harm to everyone.
Resources:
Observer.com: The United States was exposed to pressure the Netherlands, Japan, Germany and South Korea to expand chip export controls on China, but some countries resisted
Southern Metropolis Daily: The United States asked ASML to stop providing services to some Chinese equipment?
The US side was exposed to pressure the Dutch ASML: it is not allowed to repair