TSMC delays costly ASML gear
- TSMC said it will delay using ASML's new High‑NA EUV lithography machines because the equipment is too expensive to justify now. - The pause extends planned High‑NA use out to 2029 despite strong AI-driven demand across TSMC's business. - The decision signals tougher capital discipline in the AI hardware cycle, as leading foundries weigh marginal returns on ultra-expensive tools (bloomberg.com).
TSMC said on April 22 it will not use ASML’s newest High-NA chipmaking machines in production through 2029 because the tools cost too much. (bloomberg.com) Kevin Zhang, TSMC’s deputy co-chief operating officer, said the company has “no current plans” to adopt High-NA extreme ultraviolet systems, which Bloomberg reported sell for more than €350 million, or about $410 million, each. (bloomberg.com) At the same event, Zhang said TSMC’s A13 process is scheduled for production in 2029, extending the company’s roadmap without that new class of tool. Reuters reported the company showed smaller and faster chip plans built around existing extreme ultraviolet equipment instead. (bloomberg.com) (msn.com) High-NA is the next version of the light-based machine that prints chip features onto silicon, like swapping in a sharper lens to draw finer lines in fewer passes. TSMC’s decision says its current extreme ultraviolet tools can still do that job on the nodes it plans to ship this decade. (electronicsweekly.com) (bloomberg.com) That matters because TSMC is ASML’s largest customer, and ASML is the only company that makes extreme ultraviolet lithography systems. A slower TSMC rollout pushes back one of the biggest expected uses for ASML’s most expensive product. (bloomberg.com) (asml.com) The pause also lands in the middle of an artificial-intelligence spending boom. TSMC told investors on April 16 that first-quarter 2026 revenue reached $35.9 billion and that full-year revenue growth should be above 30%, showing demand is strong even as it trims back on one premium tool. (investor.tsmc.com) ASML’s own numbers show the stakes. The company reported April 15 that first-quarter 2026 net sales were €8.8 billion and raised its full-year sales outlook to €36 billion to €40 billion, so a delay from TSMC hits timing more than it changes the broader demand picture. (asml.com) Other chipmakers are still testing the technology. Reuters reported in February 2025 that Intel had already installed two High-NA systems and processed about 30,000 wafers in a quarter, making TSMC’s choice a business decision on cost and timing, not a verdict that the machines do not work. (tech.yahoo.com) For now, TSMC is betting that older extreme ultraviolet tools can carry its leading-edge lineup through A13 in 2029. That leaves ASML selling a machine the industry wants, but not yet at a price its biggest customer is ready to pay. (bloomberg.com)
