00:00It seems like investors' main concern is that however strong demand is, ASML won't be able to monetize it.
00:07Is it more a case of won't than can't, though?
00:12That's right. So ASML is often referred to as a monopoly.
00:16And even though it is true that it is the only company in the world that makes extreme ultraviolet lithography
00:21machines
00:22that are crucial to the big AI boom,
00:26it's actually competing with other parts of the chip-making, sophisticated chip-making technology supply chain,
00:33which means that companies decide to allocate money to each of these different stages.
00:39And investors are concerned that in relative terms,
00:42ASML's EUV machines are actually getting the boost that other parts of the supply chain are,
00:48like etching or advanced packaging.
00:52The other issue is that they're actually not increasing prices
00:58despite this kind of much-coveted, almost-monopoly-style sell position.
01:04They've decided not to raise prices.
01:08And, yeah, so it's kind of like they're not able...
01:11They're sitting on this amazing tool that's the only of its kind in the world,
01:16but they're not quite capitalising it into this kind of runaway market success that they might want to see.
01:23Which seems so strange.
01:25But then on top of that, you've also got worries about whether ASML can actually meet demand, right?
01:31Exactly.
01:32So there have been worries about capacity constraints.
01:35So can it ramp up production quickly enough?
01:38Because these are extremely technically advanced, sophisticated machines
01:43that require super expensive technology to make.
01:46It's not, you know, it's much more sophisticated, you know,
01:50compared to, say, a shovel and pick, if you go with that analogy.
01:55And the capacity issue, you know, they're getting a new site online in the Netherlands,
02:00and that's taking longer than they might have hoped.
02:04So there are these long-term capacity constraints.
02:06But on the other hand, some of those have ease,
02:09because Bank of America recently said that actually they're going to be able to sell 90 EUV machines
02:15up from 48 in the year prior.
02:17So that's a pretty hefty jump.
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