ASML Holding NV extended a deal to sell chip manufacturing equipment to Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), China's largest chipmaker, until the end of this year, ASML said in a statement March 3.
SMIC disclosed a volume purchase agreement under which it has already spent $1.2 billion with the toolmaker. In a clarifying statement ASML said the agreement began in 2018 and was slated to expire at the end of 2020, but the two companies agreed in February to extend the deal to the end of this year.
In its statement March 3 ASML noted the volume purchase deal with SMIC related to an older technology called deep ultraviolet lithography, or DUV.
ASML is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of chip-making equipment. It is a multinational company with offices in more than 60 cities in 16 countries, headquartered in Veldhoven, the Netherlands. ASML is traded on Euronext Amsterdam and NASDAQ.