EUV lithography machine leader ASML struck by IT outage that affected its facilities globally

ASML was struck by an IT outage last week that disrupted its facilities globally, but was resolved quickly according to an ASML spokesperson.

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In a story from Bloomberg, we're learning that the maker of the world's most advanced chipmaking machines -- High-NA EUV lithography machines purchased by semiconductor giants TSMC and Intel -- was hit by an IT outage that forced some staffers to work remotely.

Local Dutch newspaper Eindhovens Dagblad, ASML's clean rooms, offices, customer support departments, and communication with suppliers were disrupted during the IT outage. Bloomberg reminds us that ASML is a "critical part of the world's semiconductor supply chain, and as a result, has found itself continually caught in the middle of the escalating fight between the US and China over chip-market dominance. It has a monopoly on manufacturing the machines that help companies such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Samsung Electronics Co. produce the most-advanced chips that power everything from Apple's smartphones to NVIDIA's AI accelerators".

ASML has since said that "all systems are fully recovered" and that the cause of the outage is currently under investigation. In August 2024, ASML prematurely released its Q3 earnings during trading hours (half a day earlier than scheduled) which the company said was a "technical error". Fast-forward a few weeks, and a new IT outage caused the company a couple of headaches, that seem to be resolved.