Asml (Advanced Semiconductor Materials Lithography Holding N.V.), translated from Chinese into ASML. Before 1984, ASML (formerly known as ASMI) was a Dutch listed semiconductor equipment manufacturer. 197 1 year, Philips began to develop lithography equipment. At that time, the competition in mask aligner was fierce, and Japanese, American and German equipment occupied the market. Although Philips also successfully launched its own equipment, due to the cruel market, Philips cancelled this R&D department. At this time, ASMI went to Philips to seek cooperation, and finally established ASML. After continuous development and attention to R&D investment, ASML launched TWINSCAN mask aligner in 2000, and established its leading position. At present, ASML is far ahead of traditional optical giants Nikon and Canon in mask aligner market.
As we all know, the semiconductor industry is actually asset-intensive and technology-intensive, and of course it is also labor-intensive at present. In fact, ASML itself is not a closed-loop enterprise. Its optical equipment, such as lens, comes from carl zeiss, and its measuring equipment comes from the United States. Mask aligner's production and technological innovation are highly technical and require a lot of capital investment. The progress of each component will bring technological innovation. Of course, these advances are inseparable from capital investment and cooperation between industrial chains. ASML implements the strategy of light assets, controls the main core technologies, and does not design the whole industrial chain, which is not suitable for the development of its core business. Although ASML has not set foot in the downstream semiconductor chip business, the three giants, Intel, Samsung and TSMC, have invested in ASML, holding 23% of the shares, which gives ASML great talent support, which is obviously more secure than directly setting foot in the traditional semiconductor industry, and is also more conducive to the development of ASML's core business.
Although ASML is powerful, it still has a technical blockade on China, so it is difficult for domestic semiconductor manufacturers to buy its most advanced mask aligner. Of course, China's mask aligner technology is also mentioned here. At present, Shanghai Microelectronics has been able to produce mask aligner independently, and has made great progress in EUV light source. Although there is a big technical gap with ASML, the prospect is very bright.
(Related pictures from the Internet) Welcome to pay attention to likes!