​A fire broke out in the ASML Berlin factory! The delivery schedule of the lithography machine is in doubt, and the capacity expansion of the foundry is hindered?
ASML fire
As the world's largest supplier of lithography equipment, ASML's every move has attracted much attention, especially at the time when major chip manufacturers are expanding their production capacity. Whether ASML equipment can be shipped on time is related to the production capacity of the global semiconductor industry. Expansion progress. However, at this moment, ASML announced through its official website that a fire broke out in a factory in Berlin, Germany, on the evening of January 2 local time.
According to ASML's official website, the fire was extinguished at night, and no one was injured in the incident. As for the loss of the accident and whether it will affect ASML's output plan for this year, the official said it will take a few days to conduct a thorough investigation and comprehensive evaluation.

Source: Berliner Glas
Electronic enthusiasts network learned that the predecessor of the ASML Berlin factory where the fire occurred was Berliner Glas. Previously, it supplied ASML with optical system components for lithography machines, including wafer tables and fixtures, reticle chucks, and mirrors. When this company was acquired by ASML in November 2020, its annual revenue was approximately 230 million euros. As of June 30, 2021, ASML Berlin has 31,780 square meters of workshops and a total of 1,210 employees.
In 2018, another ASML supplier, Prodrive, also experienced a fire. At that time, the delivery date of some ASML products was delayed.
The surge in semiconductor production, the demand for lithography machines exceeds demand
The imbalance between supply and demand in the semiconductor industry in the past two years has prompted major chip manufacturers to accelerate the process of capacity expansion. As the core link of the chip manufacturing industry, the demand for lithography machines will inevitably increase with the accelerated expansion of production capacity. In the financial report for the second quarter of 2021, ASML's lithography machine booking volume broke a historical record, with a booking order amount of 8.3 billion euros, of which 4.9 billion euros were from EUV lithography machines.
In the financial report for the third quarter of 2021, ASML's order value has dropped from the previous month to only 6.2 billion euros, of which EUV lithography machine product orders amounted to 2.9 billion euros. But in fact, ASML's revenue in the third quarter reached 5.241 billion euros, a record high. The main reason is that some equipment did not complete the factory acceptance test in the last quarter, and the revenue of this part of the equipment was postponed to the third quarter.
On the other hand, it is because of the high average selling price of EUV equipment. In the second quarter, ASML delivered the world's first NXE:3600DEUV lithography system. Compared with the previous NXE:3400C, this system can increase the production capacity by 15%-20% and can expose 160 wafers per hour. Of course, in addition to the performance improvement, the price is also similar to the performance increase. NXE: 3400C is priced at 120 million U.S. dollars, while NXE: 3600D is said to be priced at 145 million U.S. dollars.
Judging from the order value and revenue data of each quarter, it is obvious that ASML's current production capacity cannot meet the order demand. Because of this, in the financial report for the first three quarters of 2021, ASML mentioned the expansion plan of DUV and EUV lithography machines.
In 2021, ASML's DUV lithography machine output growth mainly comes from buffer inventory, but as demand continues to grow, ASML has decided to continue to increase DUV production capacity in 2022 and beyond, mainly dry DUV, but not yet Major suppliers confirm production capacity targets.
It is worth mentioning that the United States has not imposed restrictions on the export of DUV lithography machines, including ArF immersion DUV lithography machines led by TSMC and ASML, and dry DUV F2 light sources led by Nikon and Canon. Therefore, ASML can still supply DUV lithography machines to Chinese companies without obtaining a US export license.
In terms of EUV, after ASML first delivered NXE:3600D in the second quarter of 2021, the EUV product line in 2022 will focus on NXE:3600D. ASML plans to establish a supply chain with a capacity of approximately 55 EUV lithography machines in 2022, all of which are NXE:3600D, and increase the production capacity to more than 60 units in 2023. At the same time, the proportion of NXE:3600D in EUV product shipments in 2022 will increase substantially.
Expansion of equipment production capacity, shortage of materials and talents
At the third quarter performance meeting of last year, ASML said that it lowered its revenue expectations for the fourth quarter, down 4.7% from the previous quarter. Its chief financial officer said that the main reason was the shortage of raw materials in the supply chain and some problems in the headquarters' logistics center.
Yes, even if it is the only manufacturer in the world that can produce EUV lithography machines, ASML is still affected by the shortage of raw materials in the supply chain. In fact, the reason is easy to understand. When the entire industry is pushing production capacity from the demand side layer by layer, supply chain issues are already a common problem faced by the entire industry.
The accident at the factory in Berlin, Germany, may further increase the current pressure on ASML's supply chain. However, there is no specific evaluation report, so I won't make too many guesses here.
In addition to the problem of raw material suppliers and the shortage of talents that plague the domestic semiconductor industry, ASML cannot avoid it.
According to a report by the talent management company Eightfold.ai, in the United States alone, it will be necessary to increase 70,000-90,000 employees by 2025 compared with 2020 to meet the personnel demand for fab expansion. And if the so-called "local supply chain" in the United States is to be satisfied, this number will increase to 300,000.
According to 104 JobBank statistics, as one of the global chip manufacturing centers in Taiwan, the recruitment gap has reached the highest level in six years. The semiconductor industry personnel gap is about 27,000 per month on average, an increase of 44% compared to a year ago.
ASML said that in order to keep up with the current expansion of global chip manufacturers, the demand for employees of the Dutch headquarters company is expected to increase by more than 10% every year. In order to attract employees, ASML said it is strengthening competition in all aspects, including deepening cooperation with universities and adjusting the search for suitable talents.