ASML, the company that makes the semiconductor machines that every big Western chipmaker uses to make their chips, has “raised its guidance”—i.e., increased its predictions over how well it’s going to do—for the year. It says this is thanks to being able to keep up with customer demand coming from both memory and processor/accelerator chipmakers.
The CEO explains: “The dynamics are very similar in both advanced logic and DRAM, and the plans to build up capacity are equally aggressive. Our customers in both segments are entering into long-term agreements with their customer, providing them with longer term visibility and the confidence to add significant capacity to support demand.”
“We now expect advanced logic foundry-related net system sales to grow over 25% this year. In DRAM, the supply challenges driving up both DDR and HBM prices have prompted significant investments in fab expansion. Our customers are adding meaningful capacity this year, while at the same time they plan further capacity expansion, as indicated by the plans to build multiple mega fabs.”
The executive VP and CFO adds: “We now expect to ship around 65 Low-NA EUV systems this year, resulting in year-over-year EUV net system sales growth of over 45%. This demand is being fueled by very strong momentum in both DRAM and advanced logic.”