Quarterhill Inc T.QTRH

EUV Lithography Machines - TSMC

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The 'most complicated machine humans have built' keeps US technology a decade ahead of China – HotAir

It would probably take a decade and a trillion dollars for China to replicate the European, Japanese and American supply chain that produces the parts for the ASML EUV lithography machine. That’s a long time and by the time they got it done the free would would have moved on to something even more advanced.

But once place that does have these machines is the world’s leading chipmaker, a company called TSMC which stands for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Co. So if you’re wondering why China is so hot to reunite Taiwan with the mainland, one reason may be that in taking over the island they would effectively seize control of the latest ASML machines which they can’t buy and can’t produce on their own. It would be the greatest theft of advanced technology in China’s history. If China wants its technology to catch up with the rest of the world, an invasion of Taiwan is probably their best bet.

Of course invading Taiwan would probably put an end to selling new EUV machines to TSMC, but the disruption of potentially having TSMC under Chinese control would potentially set back the rest of the world’s manufacturing by several years. China might not be able to catch up completely but they could jump ahead several years and set the US back at the same time. It’s one reason the US has been looking into being less dependent on places like Taiwan for our high tech manufacturing as we move forward

To say it’s a complicated system is underselling it substantially. An IBM senior VP calls it the most complicated machine ever built by humans. ASML has only made about 100 of them and can only make a maximum of about 50 of them in a year. But thanks to the Trump administration, China can’t buy one.