Dutch tech giant ASML Holding NV, which supplies chipmaking machines to the semiconductor industry, yesterday reported a rise in annual net profit despite a high-tech trade spat between China and the West.
Net profits came in at 7.8 billion euros (US$8.5 billion) for last year, compared with 5.6 billion euros the previous year, the firm said.
“The semiconductor industry continues to work through the bottom of the cycle,” ASML Holding NV CEO Peter Wennink said in a statement.
Photo: Reuters
“Although our customers are still not certain about the shape of the semiconductor market recovery this year, there are some positive signs,” he added.
ASML is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of equipment to make state-of-the-art semiconductor chips, which power everything from mobile phones to cars.
However, the semiconductor industry has become a geopolitical battleground, as the West seeks to restrict China’s access over fears the chips could be used for advanced weaponry.
ASML earlier this month said that it had been blocked from exporting “a small number” of its advanced machines to China, amid reports of US pressure on Amsterdam.
At the time, Beijing lashed out at what it called “bullying behavior” by Washington, adding that it “seriously violates international trade rules.”
There are also concerns Beijing might introduce its own export controls on gallium and germanium — two rare earth metals critical for semiconductors.
ASML has shrugged off the financial impact of the geopolitical headwinds, with top officials saying the firm is well placed to weather the storm.
The company said it expects flat sales this year, which it has called a “transition year,” before registering “significant growth” next year.
Overall net sales last year came in at 27.6 billion euros, up from 21.1 billion euros in 2022.
The numbers for last quarter were also slightly better than the firm had expected, with profits of 2 billion euros on sales of 7.2 billion euros.
ASML said its pipeline was also robust, with net bookings nearly tripling to 9.2 billion euros in the fourth quarter compared with 2.6 billion euros in the previous quarter.
“Our strong order intake in the fourth quarter clearly supports future demand,” Wennink said.
However, net bookings were down for the year as a whole, at 20 billion euros compared with 30.6 billion euros in 2022.
The firm said sales in this quarter are expected to slow compared with the pace set in last quarter, with a forecast of 5 billion euros to 5.5 billion euros.
“In spite of the positive signs as described above, we maintain our conservative view for the total year and expect 2024 revenue to be similar to 2023,” Wennink said. “We also expect 2024 to be an important year to prepare for significant growth that we expect for 2025.”
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) would not produce its most advanced technologies in the US next year, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. Kuo made the comment during an appearance at the legislature, hours after the chipmaker announced that it would invest an additional US$100 billion to expand its manufacturing operations in the US. Asked by Taiwan People’s Party Legislator-at-large Chang Chi-kai (張啟楷) if TSMC would allow its most advanced technologies, the yet-to-be-released 2-nanometer and 1.6-nanometer processes, to go to the US in the near term, Kuo denied it. TSMC recently opened its first US factory, which produces 4-nanometer
GREAT SUCCESS: Republican Senator Todd Young expressed surprise at Trump’s comments and said he expects the administration to keep the program running US lawmakers who helped secure billions of dollars in subsidies for domestic semiconductor manufacturing rejected US President Donald Trump’s call to revoke the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, signaling that any repeal effort in the US Congress would fall short. US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who negotiated the law, on Wednesday said that Trump’s demand would fail, while a top Republican proponent, US Senator Todd Young, expressed surprise at the president’s comments and said he expects the administration to keep the program running. The CHIPS Act is “essential for America leading the world in tech, leading the world in AI [artificial
REACTIONS: While most analysts were positive about TSMC’s investment, one said the US expansion could disrupt the company’s supply-demand balance Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) new US$100 billion investment in the US would exert a positive effect on the chipmaker’s revenue in the medium term on the back of booming artificial intelligence (AI) chip demand from US chip designers, an International Data Corp (IDC) analyst said yesterday. “This is good for TSMC in terms of business expansion, as its major clients for advanced chips are US chip designers,” IDC senior semiconductor research manager Galen Zeng (曾冠瑋) said by telephone yesterday. “Besides, those US companies all consider supply chain resilience a business imperative,” Zeng said. That meant local supply would
BIG INVESTMENT: Hon Hai is building the world’s largest assembly plant for servers based on Nvidia Corp’s state-of-the-art AI chips, Jalisco Governor Pablo Lemus said The construction of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co’s (鴻海精密) massive artificial intelligence (AI) server plant near Guadalajara, Mexico, would be completed in a year despite the threat of new tariffs from US President Donald Trump, Jalisco Governor Pablo Lemus said. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), is investing about US$900 million in what would become the world’s largest assembly plant for servers based on Nvidia Corp’s state-of-the-art GB200 AI chips, Lemus said. The project consists of two phases: the expansion of an existing Hon Hai facility in the municipality of El Salto, and the construction of a
RSS