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Samsung Electronics Delays ASML Equipment Deliveries
Samsung Electronics has delayed the delivery of chipmaking equipment from ASML for its upcoming $17 billion factory in Taylor, Texas. According to sources, the company has yet to secure major customers for this ambitious project, leading to a temporary halt in orders from various suppliers.
This delay represents a significant setback for Samsung's strategy to diversify from its core memory chip business into the lucrative contract chip manufacturing market, dominated by Taiwan's TSMC. As TSMC and SK Hynix ramp up production to meet the rising demand for advanced chips driven by artificial intelligence (AI), Samsung finds itself at a critical juncture.
ASML, the leading supplier of chipmaking equipment, has also revised its 2025 sales forecast downward due to decreased demand in markets outside of AI. The delayed shipments to Samsung's factory involve ASML's cutting-edge extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines, which are essential for producing high-performance chips used in smartphones and AI servers.
While Samsung has not disclosed how many EUV machines it has ordered, the advanced equipment typically costs around $200 million each. Both ASML and Samsung declined to comment on the situation.
