Dutch semiconductor toolmaker ASML has shipped its second-ever high numerical aperture (NA) extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machine to an undisclosed customer.

ASML's High NA EUV chipmaking machine is intended to make future nodes even more dense than what's possible with current EUV tools, which are considered Low NA. The shipment of a second High NA machine, reported by Reuters, signals that the latest tech is gradually being adopted.

However, ASML has kept the identity of whatever company bought the High NA EUV machine under wraps, and we can really only guess who it could be. Reuters points out that Intel, TSMC, and Samsung are obvious candidates; after all, Intel bought the first ever High NA EUV tool for its upcoming 14A node, receiving the first TWINSCAN EXE:5200 system at its facility in Hillsboro, Oregon, earlier in 2024, as ASML mentions on page 13 of a slide deck filed with the SEC [PDF].

TSMC and Samsung have already confirmed they want to adopt ASML's High NA technology.

The three top semiconductor firms aren't the only possible recipients of the cutting-edge hardware though. In December, an upcoming semiconductor facility run by companies including IBM and Micron was rumored to be getting one of ASML's High NA EUV machines, and it's possible this is where the second-ever one has gone. Plus, if Intel, TSMC, and Samsung had gotten their hands on the machine, it would probably be hard to keep that a secret for very long.

Although there are only two of these chipmaking tools out in the wild so far, ASML plans on making more, as it has orders for 10 to 20 additional machines. At €350 million ($373 million) a pop, that means ASML has at least €3.5 billion ($3.7 billion) of orders on its books, and combined with the two High NA machines already sold, ASML appears to be projecting more than €4 billion sales in High NA EUV tools in the near future.

The Dutch semiconductor company will probably need to sell as many High NA machines as possible, as Western sanctions on China will not be good for ASML's business - at least in the long term. ASML is still reliant on exporting tools to China: calendar Q1 results out today showed that 49 percent of the company's sales were from China.

Net profit was down 40 percent year-on-year, which may be because Chinese clients rushed their orders in during Q4 to get ahead of future sanctions. Chinese tech companies including Huawei are looking to domestically produce the high-tech tools that ASML would have provided, meaning when or if the US/ Dutch sanctions are lifted, it's possible that ASML's China business will take a hit anyway. ®

https://www.theregister.com//2024/04/17/asml_ships_another_high_na/