From Asia Times, August 7:
Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology claims breakthroughs that could break ASML’s monopoly on advanced chip-making equipment
The Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) has designed a new type of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography equipment that could significantly reduce the cost to produce 7nm and smaller semiconductors, and thus revolutionize the chip manufacturing supply chain.
According to reports, the EUV equipment’s optical system is greatly simplified while power consumption is reduced by a factor of ten, raising the prospect of much cheaper advanced chip-making machines.
If so, it could mark the end of ASML’s monopoly on EUV lithography, which would have serious implications for semiconductor manufacturers, investors and governments....
....MUCH MORE
At the low end Japan is already making waves.
November 2022: "Highest of High Tech: Japan Is Coming Up Fast In The Chip Equipment Business"
Taiwan is really counting on ASML to get to the next level:
April 2024: TSMC: "How We’ll Reach a 1 Trillion Transistor GPU—Advances in semiconductors are feeding the AI boom"
And China isn't napping. Also April 2024: Chips: "Huawei building vast chip equipment R&D center in Shanghai"
At the moment I don't think ASML has to worry but U.S. policymakers should be dusting off their contingency plans. They have contingency plans, right? I think they're in the same drawer as the CDC's pandemic response folder.
And our outro from November 2023's "Chips: Apple Spent Big Money To Get Taiwan Semi's New 3nm (AAPL; TSM)":
Oh to be smart enough to outcompete ASML in the lithography biz:
Today ASML Holding NV (ASML) has published its 2023 third-quarter results.
Q3 net sales of €6.7 billion, gross margin of 51.9%, net income of €1.9 billionAnd have the premier manufacturer bragging about using your product:
TSMC says it will have advanced ASML chipmaking tool in 2024With only one small cloud on the horizon:
Canon’s Advanced Chip Machines to Cost a Fraction of ASML’s Best
