I just saw an interesting news update from ASML about the development of their lithography machines. This Dutch company seems to be reaching an important milestone with their latest extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machine that is ready to enter mass production.

According to Marco Peters, ASML’s Chief Technology Officer, this generation of lithography machines has been extensively tested—around 500,000 silicon wafers have been processed with very minimal downtime. Testing results show that the pattern precision already meets production standards, meaning the technology is mature enough for widespread use.

What’s quite interesting is the price. The new lithography machine unit is sold for around $400 million each—twice the price of the previous EUV model. That’s a significant price increase, but considering the specifications and capabilities offered, this price hike is proportional to the technological improvements.

This is actually an important signal for the semiconductor industry. With ASML’s more advanced lithography machines now ready for mass production, chip companies worldwide can start increasing their output with higher precision. This means the bottleneck in the chip supply chain might begin to ease in the future. Several major players in the industry are surely already lining up to order ASML’s latest lithography machines.