ASML ships one 5,000hundred-million-won EUV system… Why it costs more than an airplane
Dutch company ASML has announced the shipment of next-generation EUV (extreme ultraviolet) lithography equipment priced per unit at 5,000hundred million won. As demand for AI semiconductors expands, the cost burden of equipment for advanced process nodes is growing.
![ASML ships one 5,000hundred-million-won EUV system]/blog-images/gen-d4ab4298-033a-4935-865e-e320de8205b3.jpg)
A piece of semiconductor equipment more expensive than an airplane is headed to a factory. Each unit costs 5,000hundred million won.
The Netherlands’ ASML has officially announced the shipment of next-generation extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography equipment. This equipment is essential for drawing semiconductor circuit patterns at advanced process nodes, and its performance is a step above that of existing products.
The problem is the price. One unit costs more than a Boeing passenger aircraft. With demand for AI semiconductors surging, semiconductor companies need more sophisticated processes, and the more sophisticated those processes become, the greater the burden of capital investment in equipment. The semiconductor industry calls this phenomenon “process-node inflation.” The industry is becoming locked into a structure in which more expensive equipment must be purchased to make high-performance chips.
Global semiconductor companies have entered a phase in which they must invest capital on a trillion-won scale.
The role of lithography equipment can be summed up in one sentence: chip performance improves when circuits are drawn at a scale of tens of thousands of times thinner than a human hair, and this is the machine that etches those circuits using light. ASML is the only supplier in the world of the technology that generates that light.
The key question is whether the announcement of equipment shipments will lead to an actual expansion of customers’ facilities.
- ASML is the only company that effectively holds a monopoly on supplying EUV lithography equipment
- The next-generation equipment offers better performance than existing models, but its price is also5,000at the hundred-million-won level
- A surge in demand for AI semiconductors is also increasing the burden of capital expenditure on semiconductor companies
- With “process miniaturization inflation,” the global semiconductor industry has entered a phase of trillion-won-scale investment
The industry is watching most closely how this shipment will affect semiconductor production capacity and technological competition. Specific figures, such as additional investment plans or contract terms, have not yet been confirmed.
Sources: 파이낸셜뉴스 산업
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