In order to hinder the development of our chips to the high-end, the US has intensified its measures, especially the restriction of the lithography machine of ASML in the Netherlands, which previously restricted high-end EUV, later restricted mid-to-high-end DUV, and now wants to restrict after-sales maintenance.
Helplessly, ASML, as a small European company in the Netherlands, has always had to go against the grain. But with the announcement of the financial report for the first quarter of this year, ASML finally began to break out, so it made a strong statement, and it seemed to be a direct showdown!
For many years, because the lithography machine is an indispensable core equipment in the chip manufacturing process, and there are not many companies that produce lithography machines in the world, only ASML can produce EUV, so ASML's revenue has been growing continuously.
Even though the global chip situation has declined in the past two years, and even the performance of the wafer foundry giant TSMC has declined, the lithography machine giant ASML has basically not been affected, and its performance has been rising, but it suddenly declined in the first quarter.
Recently, ASML's financial report for the first quarter of this year showed that revenue fell by 21% year-on-year and profit fell by 38% year-on-year.
The reason for this situation is that, on the one hand, the global chip situation continues to decline, and most of the major wafer factories have slowed down their expansion. On the other hand, because shipments are subject to more restrictions, the United States has constantly put forward new requirements for restricting shipments.
Despite these two factors, ASML's revenue from the mainland market still accounts for 49%, and it has become the world's largest market for ASML's lithography machine shipments, which is enough to see the importance of the mainland market for ASML.
This importance has been highlighted in 2023, and if it weren't for the growth of mainland revenue, I am afraid that ASML's performance would have declined long ago.
It is worth mentioning that ASML is facing a worse and worse situation, first of all, the Dutch government can not withstand the continuous pressure of the United States, and the scope of shipment restrictions continues to expand, and more seriously, the United States has proposed to restrict the provision of after-sales maintenance to Chinese companies.
The second is the upcoming general election in the Netherlands, and the incoming prime minister is likely to tighten immigration and labor policies, including slashing tax breaks for foreign talents and limiting the number of foreign students, which will affect ASML's talent recruitment.
You must know that the population of the Netherlands is not large, and many of ASML's talents come from abroad, and the inability to recruit people seriously affects development.
The pressure of performance, the expansion of restrictions, the problem of talents, etc., made the president of ASML completely angry, and directly said at the performance analysis meeting: At present, there is nothing to prevent us from providing services for equipment installed in Chinese mainland!
It can be seen from the tone that the president of ASML is now full of anger. It's no wonder that as the president of a company, and an incoming president, for whatever reason, performance is not guaranteed not to be angry?
If ASML's performance continues to decline in the future, I am afraid that it is possible to turn against the United States and not comply with export controls.
In fact, ASML has long been in action, and some time ago it proposed to the Dutch government to relocate. Although ostensibly due to immigration and labor issues, the Dutch government cannot withstand the pressure of the United States, and the continuous expansion of restrictions may be the fundamental.
Lithography machines are known as the "crown jewel of the semiconductor industry", and ASML is a global lithography machine giant and the world's only supplier of high-end EUV lithography machines, which makes both economic and political importance for the Netherlands.
Therefore, the Netherlands certainly does not want ASML to leave, so it actively retains it, and quickly offers 2.5 billion euros to improve its conditions.
Although the Dutch government tried its best to keep it, ASML did not directly say that it would not leave, but only expressed its appreciation for the Dutch measures, and it is not certain whether it will move out of the Netherlands, and I am afraid that the next president of ASML will need to decide.
This problem has not yet been resolved, and the United States has thrown another big problem to the Netherlands, hoping to restrict ASML from providing after-sales maintenance services to Chinese enterprises, the purpose of which is to make the lithography machines purchased by Chinese enterprises damaged and can no longer be used.
Now that ASML's performance is declining and the president has stated that he will not stop providing repairs, the Dutch government is facing a dilemma.
Regarding the statement of the president of ASML, some foreign media directly commented that this is a direct showdown, and then the problem is thrown to the Dutch government, whether to continue to succumb to the restrictions of the United States, or to safeguard the interests of ASML, I am afraid that I can only take risks.
However, this is not a bad thing for us, the market is here, it depends on your choice, and the restrictions can promote the acceleration of domestic lithography machines, just like the chip restrictions of the United States, the stricter our chip breakthrough!