ASML: Push is on for 20-nm chip production in 2013

LONDON – Competition within the ARM ecosystem aimed at mobile devices is driving a faster pace of process development and will likely prompt foundry production on the 22-nm/20-nm process node in 2013, according to Eric Meurice, CEO of lithography vendor ASML Holding NV (Veldhoven, The Netherlands).

Meurice, speaking to analysts on a conference call to discuss ASML's financial results for the first quarter of 2012, said the industry is competing in the mobile devices space and that is driving the development of a new production node each year.

Meurice said that ASML expects to have six to nine months of strong sales in support of ramping production of the 28-nm production node but that by year end there will be the start of demand for equipment for 22-nm production.

The leading chip company is already in production on 22-nm with its own FinFET-based process but leading foundry Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. is struggling to meet demand for its 28-nm production, according to recent reports.

"We have another six to nine months of production and shipment of machines before we have delivered to the market a mature, not high, level of [28-nm] wafers per month. After that there is another engine for 2013, which is to be proven, but we are getting now significant interest. The customers want to go from 28-nm to 22-nm already."

Meurice told analysts that competition in the ARM environment around mobile applications is driving the desire for improved products and architectures. Rather than migrating to a new node every two years or 18 months Meurice sees the faster ramping to a new node every year.

In a presentation prepared to accompany the companies financial results ASML said: "Demand for 28-nm in logic continues to be large and structural and will be accompanied by the start of pre-production for 20-nm late in 2012. For memory we expect technology demand for sub 20-nm NAND, sub 30-nm DRAM later this year."

Meurice said that successful production at 22-nm or 20-nm in 2013 was not automatic. "These are very complicated nodes technology-wise and you could have difficulties; yield, ramp, etc. But this would probably not impact the litho business." In fact, Meurice concluded, such difficulties could provide a business upside for ASML.


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