SAN FRANCISCO — Semiconductor lithography equipment vendor ASML Holdings NV posted better-than-expected second quarter revenue driven by sales to the booming memory chip sector and reported a significant increase in sales of next-generation extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography tools.
ASML (Veldhoven, the Netherlands) reported that it sold an additional eight EUV systems in the second quarter, bringing its EUV backlog to 27 tools valued at about 2.8 billion euro (about $3.26 billion). The firm also announced that it demonstrated the key productivity metric of 125 wafers per hour (125) on an EUV tool at its headquarters.
Second quarter sales increased to 2.1 billion euro (about $244) million, up 8 percent compared to the year ago quarter. The company said it is on track to grow sales about 25 percent this year.
ASML said it expects sales to memory companies—DRAM vendors—to grow about 50 percent this year as the memory sector enjoys one of its best upcycles in history.
The demonstration of 125 WPH productivity is considered a key milestone for EUV tools. Chip vendors have long insisted that EUV tools must be capable of this level of throughput to be cost effective in volume manufacturing. ASML announced last week that its EUV source power had been demonstrated to achieve a level of 250 watts—the power threshold seen as the key to 125 MPH productivity.
Leading edge chip manufacturers, including Intel, Samsung and TSMC, are hoping to insert oft-delayed EUV lithography into volume production in the next two years.
A spokesperson for ASML said the 250 MPH metric was achieved in a standard test at the company's Veldhoven headquarters according to conditions like those that ASML runs for standard acceptance test protocol. This protocol typically includes many tests that are completed to qualify a system for shipment and test to ensure the tool performs according to specification, according to the spokesperson.
ASML said it expects sales to increase to about 2.2 billion euro (about $2.56 billion) in the third quarter.
"Our current view is that the positive business trends that we are seeing in 2017 are likely to continue as we enter 2018," Peter Wennink, ASML president and CEO, said.
—Dylan McGrath is the editor-in-chief of EE Times.
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