SMIC Orders an EUV Machine

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Cheng Ting-Fang, Chinese Chipmaker Takes on TSMC and Intel with Cutting-Edge Tool; State-backed SMIC's first order for $120m EUV system comes amid Sino-US trade spat. Nikkei Asian Review, May 16, 2018
https://asia.nikkei.com/Business ... -Intel-TSMC-Samsung

Quote:

(a) "Semiconductor Manufacturing International Co, China's top state-backed contract chipmaker, has placed an order for one set of extreme-ultraviolet lithography equipment, the costliest and most advanced chip production tool * * * according to people familiar with the matter. * * * from Dutch chip gear builder ASML, worth $120 million

(b) "TSMC, Intel and Samsung have already ordered many EUV systems from ASML. TSMC, the world's biggest contract chipmaker by revenue, for instance, has booked up to 10 systems for this year, according to supply chain sources. Samsung has booked roughly six EUV systems, while Intel will take about three for 2018, these people said.  GlobalFoundries, the world's No. 2 contract chipmaker, also placed an order for one. ASML said in a mid-April earnings call that it plans to ship 20 EUV systems in 2018, without specifying customers' orders. [Judging from the context, ASML has not shipped any.]

(c) "SMIC has reserved some funding from the Chinese government for the expensive equipment that costs roughly the same amount as last year's net profit of $126.4 million, the source said. SMIC's reserved EUV system is expected to be delivered by early 2019, according to the source.

"There have long been restrictions on the ability of cutting-edge chip manufacturing equipment to be sold or shipped to China. The restrictions have been justified through the Wassenaar Arrangement, a multinational voluntary export-control compliance that covers the export of technologies that could have military uses. But companies can obtain exemptions to such restrictions.

"A spokesperson for ASML told the Nikkei Asian Review that it treats customers worldwide, including its Chinese clients, equally and there are no restrictions according to the Wassenaar Arrangement to sell EUV equipment to Chinese customers. The Dutch company declined to comment on whether SMIC placed an EUV system order, as well as on orders from TSMC, Intel and Samsung.

(d) "The EUV system can emit light with wavelengths one-fifteenth as small as the current equipment, enabling it to etch finer circuits on a chip. * * * [Yet] none [of EUV equipment] previously have successfully produced such advanced chips and there are still challenges to overcome.