Dutch chip equipment maker ASML is betting on more revenue growth in Asia next year as its major semiconductor customers ride on an upturn in the chip industry, a company executive said on September 12.
The world's biggest maker of semiconductor lithography machines, which map out electronic circuits on silicon wafers, generates 60 to 70 percent of total revenue from Asia. Top contract chipmaker TSMC is one of its major clients. "Judging from a general trend, Asia's business revenue will become bigger," Peter Cheang, Director of Strategic Marketing Asia Pacific, told Reuters on the sidelines of a semiconductor trade show in Taipei.
"I don't see any other areas whose growth momentum is stronger than Asia," said Cheang, who declined to give financial projections for this year and next year.
Citing hopes of rising orders, Credit Suisse on September 12 raised its 2007 and 2008 earnings per share estimates on ASML by 14 percent and 15 percent, respectively. The optimism also came two days after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC) raised its forecasts on third-quarter sales and profit margins amid growing customer demand.
Besides big foundries, Taiwan is home to many memory chipmakers, including Nanya Technology Corp and ProMOS Technologies Inc. They are also on the client list of ASML, which is based in the southern Dutch town of Veldhoven.
In July, ASML, which competes with Japan's Nikon Corp and Canon Inc, reported its lowest quarterly order intake in two years as overcapacity and falling prices for memory chips depressed demand, but it predicted a rebound ahead.
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