ASML Increases New Machine Production "High NA EUV" Worth IDR 5.4 Trillion

Illustration of a new chip machine from ASML. (photo: x @StockMKTNewz)

JAKARTA - A leading chip manufacturing manufacturer ASML announced on Friday 9 February that it is preparing to produce a new $350 million "High NA EUV" engine, a dual-grade bus-sized device that is at the center of their efforts to maintain a superior position in the $125 billion chip machine market.

The machine, which was first exhibited on Friday, February 9 at the headquarters of Europe's largest technology company by market value, is aimed at Intel and other manufacturers of the highest-class semiconductors.

ASML said it expects to ship "a number" of the machines this year, and there is still work to be done in terms of customization and installation.

"We continue to carry out engineering and development, and there is still a lot of work to be done to calibrate and ensure that this machine is in accordance with the manufacturing system," said an ASML spokesman. "There is also a steep learning curve for us and our customers."

ASML is the only key technology maker - extreme ultraviolet (EUV) photolithography - needed to manufacture the most advanced chips.

High NA EUV is the next generation of the technology. However, analysts say it's still an open question of how many customers are ready to switch to these high-cost devices.

"While some chipmakers may introduce it early in an effort to gain technology leadership, most will not adopt it until it is economical," said Jeff Koch of Semianalysis.

Customers can choose to wait and extort more profits from existing tools. Koch's calculations show that it will only be cost-effective to switch from old technology around 2030-2031.

"This means ASML will likely have an excessive High-NA capacity between their factory upgrades by 2027-28 and full adoption in leading logic a few years later," he added.

ASML CEO Peter Wenink told Reuters in January that analysts might underestimate the technology.

"Everything we see right now in discussions with our customers is that High NA is cheaper," he said in an interview.

Greet Storms, head of High NA product management ASML, said on Friday that there would be a turning point around 2026-2027.

"This is the point where clients will take it into volume production," he told reporters.