Rising tensions between China and the US and Taiwan have brought "more serious" challenges for computer chip production, the chairman of Taiwanese semiconductor colossus TSMC said – though Europe’s largest computer chip equipment manufacturer said it does not expect to be effected.
Wednesday saw Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. Co. Ltd. (ADR) (NYSE:TSM) chair Mark Liu speak at a local industry event, while Netherlands-based ASML Holding NV (NASDAQ:ASML) directors commented alongside the release of a quarterly earnings report.
Earlier this month Washington said US companies must stop supplying Chinese tech companies with equipment to make advanced chips, designed to try and slow developments in computing and weapons.
The curbs were seen as a big blow for the likes of NVIDIA, Applied Materials, while Apple, also reportedly paused an intended contract with China’s Yangtze Memory Technologies.
TSMC, whose operations in China were also affected even though it is not a US company, this week was given a one-year licence to continue buying US chipmaking equipment for its expansion in China.
GlobalData research director Josep Bori said the ban “transcends the semiconductor industry” and “is about AI dominance, which underpins what many call the fifth industrial revolution, and ultimately about global economic leadership in the next few decades.”
Today, shares in ASML surged as the company guided to higher fourth-quarter sales and said it did not think it would be affected by the US restrictions.
The Dutch giant said demand remained strong for its chip-making machines, led by its extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) system that is essential in the manufacture of advanced semiconductors.
Investors have been worried about Washington’s new US restrictions on chip companies selling technology to China’s tech industry.
In the first public comments from ASML following the announcement of the US restrictions, chief executive Peter Wennink said the company’s initial assessment was that the US rules “do not amend the rules governing lithography equipment shipped by ASML out of the Netherlands and we expect the direct impact on ASML’s overall 2023 shipment plan to be limited”.
Finance chief Roger Dassen backed this up in a video, saying: “As you know we are a European company. So there is not a lot of US technology in our tools.”
He said the US restrictions could have an “indirect effect on the demand for our tools” but supply is still below demand.
Chip giants Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, Intel and Samsung all use ASML’s tools to build their advanced chips.
Third-quarter sales for ASML of €5.8bn beat forecasts of €5.3bn, with the company forecasting sales of €6.1-6.6bn for the final quarter.