ASML closed out its fiscal 2012 with annual sales of €4.7 billion – in line with expectations but down from the record-breaking 2011 figure of €5.7 billion.

“2012 fourth-quarter and full year sales and profit came in as expected, making the year our second best ever,” reported Eric Meurice, CEO at the market-leading lithography firm, in its full-year results.

“We plan net sales for 2013 at a similar level to that of 2012, with a slow Q1 start, recovering in Q2 and a relatively large second half.”

That prediction is based on an expected transition to more lithography-intensive 14-20 nm foundry and logic nodes as 2013 unfolds, driven by the requirements of next-generation portable devices. “All semiconductor architecture leaders have designs pending and need initial capacity,” said Meurice.

But market demand for deep-UV lithography systems remains subdued among memory chip manufacturers, although ASML’s CFO Peter Wennink told an investor conference call that there could be an upturn in the NAND sector towards the end of the year.

To read more: http://optics.org/news/4/1/26