On April 19, ASML, a leading lithography machine manufacturer, publicly stated that there is no reason not to provide after-sales service to Chinese customers.
The quarterly financial report released by ASML, a Dutch semiconductor equipment manufacturer, on Wednesday showed that net bookings for the first quarter dropped from 9.2 billion euros in the fourth quarter of last year to 3.6 billion euros.
ASML's CFO, Derksen, stated that Chinese customers account for about 20% of the company's backlog orders. "China's demand is strong. Its capacity expansion is reasonable and meets global demand in the latter half of this century."
"Currently, nothing is stopping us from providing services to Chinese customers who have already purchased our products," said Wenning, CEO of ASML.
Media reports indicate that ASML is the most valuable technology company in Europe and has now become a target for the U.S. government to curb the development of China's semiconductor industry.
Recently, U.S. officials have demanded that the Dutch government order ASML to cease providing services and maintenance for restricted chip manufacturing equipment purchased by China before the existing sales ban is implemented.
