Samsung delays taking shipments of ASML’s chip making machines for new US plant – report

Samsung Electronics (OTCPK:SSNLF) has postponed taking deliveries of ASML’s (NASDAQ:ASML) chipmaking machine for its upcoming facility in Texas as it has yet to get any major customers for the project, Reuters reported citing people with knowledge of the matter.

The South Korean tech giant has also paused the placing of orders to some other suppliers for the $17B factory in Taylor city, prompting them to look for other customers and sent staff deployed on the site back home, the report added.

The delay in equipment deliveries is another setback to the project, which is at the core of Samsung Chairman Jay Y. Lee’s aim to expand beyond its memory chips business into contract chip manufacturing, an area where Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) leads. In the memory business, the market for high bandwidth memory, or HBM, chips is led by South Korean companies SK hynix and Samsung, and to a lesser extent by American chipmaker Micron Technology (MU).

On Thursday, TSM’s results assuaged sentiments on AI demand, after ASML’s results earlier this week had sent shockwaves through the market.

The delayed shipments to Samsung’s factory involves ASML’s advanced chipmaking tool known as extreme ultraviolet, or EUV, lithography system, the report added.

The deliveries were scheduled earlier this year, however, the machines are yet to be shipped. Samsung has also pushed back delivery of some ASML equipment to the facility, without disclosing information about the equipment or the revised delivery schedule, according to the report.

It was not known how many EUV machines Samsung had ordered or what were the financial terms.

Samsung noted that there was no change to its plan to begin production of its Taylor fab in 2026, and the return of its personnel was part of a routine rotational shift, the report added.