Earlier today, ASML, a Dutch semiconductor equipment maker, said that the company sees demand for its products remaining strong in China, with around 2 billion euros ($2.3 billion) in sales in 2021.
According to a report published by the Economic Times, the Chief Financial Officer of ASML, Roger Dassen, said that ASML, which is currently operating at maximum capacity amid the ongoing global chip shortage, thinks that the sales levels will remain the same in China for the upcoming year of 2022.
He stated that “For next year I wouldn’t expect a dramatic increase in that numbers, but we would expect that number to be sustained, so also next year pretty strong sales.”
For those unaware, ASML Holding engages in the development, production, marketing, sale, and servicing of advanced semiconductor equipment, consisting of lithography-related systems, which is the technology used to create the circuitry of computer chips.
Due to growing trade tensions between the U.S. and China and the concerns of the U.S. military, the allied Dutch government has not granted ASML permission to conduct sales of its most advanced lithography equipment with China. However, Chinese companies are major buyers of ASML’s earlier generation products due to the relatively recent drive to make homegrown chips for self-sustenance and compete internationally.
Peter Wennink, the CEO of ASML Holding, has previously stated that trying to control chip and technology exports to the region (China) will be detrimental to the U.S.
Roger Dassen, however, stated that “if for whatever reason, something were to happen on the China front, for instance more stringent regulations…in all likelihood that demand would be hoovered up someplace else.”
The CFO also added that ASML was weighing how much extra capacity the company would need to meet the increasing demand for its products as a result of plans by the United States, European Union, and other governments to increase regional semiconductor manufacturing capacity due to strategic considerations.
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