On November 2nd, as a global leader in chip lithography technology, ASML, a Dutch lithography machine manufacturer, with the theme of "the future of lithography, hand in hand", will soon appear in the high-end equipment exhibition area of the third CIIE, presenting the overall lithography solution.
Lithography machine is one of the most important equipment in chip manufacturing. "We have installed 700 machines, large and small, in mainland China, and many chip manufacturers have been our partners for many years." said Bo Shen, vice president of ASML and president of China, in the second and third quarters of 2020. The number of lithography machines sent to mainland China exceeds 20% of the world's total.
Participating in the CIIE, for ASML, the biggest fit is the concept of "open cooperation" and the overall characteristics of global open collaboration in the chip industry.
"We participated in the CIIE to express our position and support for open cooperation and joint innovation." Shen Bo believes that chips are the industry with the most meticulous division of labor in globalization, and open collaboration is the most important concept. The efficiency promotes technological progress.
According to Shen Bo, 85% of ASML products are developed jointly with the supply chain. An open ecosystem allows companies to find the best suppliers in the world, including optical devices, mechanical devices, etc. Within a system, the division of labor and collaboration is the most efficient, and chip technology becomes more and more competitive, so that people can consume electronic products with lower prices and better performance. "Only by opening up can we innovate most effectively. The efficiency of closing the door is very low." Shen Bo said.
The development of the chip industry is ushering in new opportunities for development. Mass data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence are constantly bringing new applications and services, and China’s active demand is boosting the global chip market in all aspects.
In Shen Bo's view, with the development of 5G, artificial intelligence, big data, and the Internet of Things, various applications beyond imagination have been catalyzed, and higher requirements have been placed on chip performance. The importance of lithography solutions is increasing day by day, providing a large number of opportunities for improving product yield and production efficiency, which can help the industry continue to increase the value of chips and reduce production costs.
"We believe that the chip market in mainland China is expanding, and the chip manufacturing industry is entering a new stage of rapid development in China." Shen Bo said.