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Lots of places claims European response to Silicon Valley: Stockholm prides itself on being very proud unicorns per person, and London is a continent VC section. But the small Dutch town of Veldhoven – with a population of 45,000 – is home to Europe in close proximity to a major technical giant.
From its proud location near the Belgian border, ASML, a company that manufactures semiconductor chips, has grown to become one of the most important technology companies in the world. At the end of 2021, it was named in Europe great a technical company in the marketplace, driven by the global demand for arms and chip shortages worldwide. Derived from Philips Dutch major electronics in 1984, ASML assists other companies in manufacturing semiconductor chips –The brain technology of phones, cars, computers, and smart homes. Experts describe ASML as a hindrance: The company claims to have between 80 and 85 percent of the total market for semiconductors. When it comes to the most advanced type of chipmaking lithography machine, called ultraviolet lithography (EUV), the market share is up to 100 percent.
But even though ASML has risen recently, there is one uncertain phase to come. Due to trade disputes between Washington and Beijing, the company has been banned from selling its high-end machinery in China. Even the world is currently just selling 7.6 percent of global chips, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association, the number is growing rapidly and chips are one of the seven technologies Beijing owns. focused on development. Attempts to ban China from international markets have raised concerns that the country is rushing to develop its own form of ASML, threatening the power of Dutch companies in the semiconductor market.
Because of the ASML gambling that took place in the 1990s to achieve the technological development of EUV, which uses less light to photograph on silicon chips that form semiconductor chips, the control of companies in the region has not been challenged. ASML compares its highest quality expertise to the most complex, it can take 15 years for others to adopt.
“Several companies that were competitors [in the 1990s] decided to stop investing at EUV risk because it seemed to be difficult, expensive and ineffective, “says Chris Miller, an assistant professor of international history at Tufts University, who writes a history book. computer computer. of ASML has risen to $ 300 billion and the value of their share has doubled since the beginning of 2020. to climb that it could be the first company in Europe to be worth more than $ 1 trillion.
The EUV transition was long-term and costly. The company had to persuade its customers – including Intel, Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company – to buy shares in the company to raise enough money to buy the research. By the time it managed to launch its first EUV trading machine in 2017, the project cost $ 9 billion. But the rewards were worth it. It is now the only company capable of supplying EUV machines, which manufacture the highest quality chips available in the latest smartphones and game consoles, for corporate giants such as TSMC or Intel. As of September 2021, the company had sold 125 EUV machines. This may not sound like much, but there are not many companies that can make high-end chips using these machines and ASML sells them for over $ 100 million each.
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