This story is about change and growth. A company that came out-of-the-blue and is now number one in the field of wafer steppers. This is the so-called back-end part of the semiconductor-device fabrication. This phase is dominated by a lithographical process in which the circuit is projected on the silicon slices. In the adjacent phase -- the front-end -- the transistors and other components are being placed on the chip. ASML produces the back-end machines.
It all started in 1984 as a "spin-out" of Philips and ASM International. In 1990 ASMI divested the operation into a separate company because of the money-losing lithographic business at that time.
"In retrospect, it may have been the biggest blunder in ASMI's corporate history. ASML, after a rough patch in the early 1990s, began to find favor outside of its traditional base in Europe with American and Taiwanese chip makers." (1)
The company went public in 1995 and acquired SVG in the US in 2001. The lithographic market started in the US, but soon the Japanese producers Nikon and Canon dominated the market until the end of the 20th century. In 2003 that picture is changed completely:
"While - in 2003 -- ASML and No. 2 player Nikon are embroiled in bitter legal battles over intellectual property issues in the United States and Japan, Canon, the No. 3 lithography player, has declared publicly that its goal is to unseat ASML from its top spot within five years." (2)
In this market, innovation is the way to keep up with the heavy competition.
In this sense the type of technological changes do matter. Basically there are two types of technological innovations: one that has a focus on improvements, they are called sustainable technologies the other is disruptive. These latter are based on a new paradigm that changes the idea of the process completely.
A famous example of disruptive technology is the digital camera that replaced the analogue camera that required a film. In order to be successful, the disruptive technology must add more value to the client. In the beginning the lenses and the number of pixels were of a lower quality than the traditional cameras, but the ease of use and other functionality -- printing at home -- compensated the new technology. After years, digital cameras get the same quality as the previous cameras offered.
In the lithographical business, the sustainable development continue with the lithographic projections and the use of masks by which the light is filtered. Decreasing the size of the nodes (now as small as 45 nanometers) is the ultimate goal. The question is whether with the same technology this process of miniaturization remains possible...
A new - disruptive technology - is being developed in which the mask is no longer required by "writing the circuits on to silicon wafers with electron beams. Mapperlithography utilizes a Multi-Aperture Pixel-by-Pixel Enhancement of Resolution (MAPPER) technology that is based on deep ultraviolet (DUV) technology. It was founded in 2000 and is based in Delft, The Netherlands." (www.mapperlithography.com)
"John Cossins, product manager for ASML ... said in an interview that "for next generation lithography, ASML has narrowed the focus down to extreme ultraviolet solutions, while Canon and Nikon are looking more at electron beam-related solutions."
As for Mapper's technology, he said, "the alternative they're working on, though promising, is nowhere near a real product yet, and therefore not serious competition in the short term." - march 2003"
Where change and growth go often together becomes visible in the dividends policy of the company. After twelve year in business the company pays it first dividends to the shareholders and is intent to continue this new pattern. For the investor this may be a signal that the high growth of the company is now bend into a more stable growth. But what about the market entry of new parties?
IT is possible that the other parties also feel the pressure from the market. If ASML could beat the competition once why wouldn't it possible that another (new) party will do this too in the near future.
On the site of ASML we read about a collaborative intent:
"... December 21, 2007 - ASML Holding NV (ASML) and Carl Zeiss SMT (Zeiss) today announce that each has signed an agreement with Canon Inc. (Canon) for the global cross-license of patents in their respective fields of semiconductor lithography and optical components, used to manufacture integrated circuits, or chips..."
"ASML and Zeiss with their large current research and development efforts and resulting know how, welcome this agreement with Canon, with its substantial patent portfolio. There will be no transfer of technology, which means ASML and Zeiss will continue to compete with all players in the market on the basis of their capability to bring leading technologies to market."
"The cross-license helps the three companies to compete more freely in the area relevant to their customers, which is technology expertise and implementation, rather than on intellectual property (IP) rights. ASML and Zeiss are strongly committed to investing in research and development and will continue their build-up of know how and IP. "
Growth is also done by takeovers. Besides the large acquisition of CVG in 2001, the company continues the acquire other parties that add value to their process, like "Brion Technologies ... a leading provider of semiconductor design and wafer manufacturing optimization solutions for advanced lithography... Brion's computational lithography technology enables semiconductor manufacturers to simulate the realized pattern of integrated circuits and to correct the mask pattern to optimize the manufacturing process and yield."
"This combination extends significantly ASML capabilities to support the semiconductor industry as our complementary technologies can enhance further the efficiency of chip manufacturing," said Eric Meurice, president and CEO of ASML. "Brion's simulation technology combined with ASML's lithography systems will generate value for customers through faster time to market, better imaging quality and higher yield in wafer manufacturing."
(1) - http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EKF/is_n2206_v44/ai_20323849/pg_1
(2) - [http://www.allbusiness.com/marketing-advertising/marketing-advertising-measures/6344072-1.html]
H.J.B
? Hans Bool
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