SK Hynix has placed a landmark order worth 11.95 trillion won (approximately $7.97 billion) for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography tools from Dutch equipment maker ASML. The order, filed with South Korean regulators on Tuesday, is the largest single EUV order ever publicly disclosed by an ASML customer and is scheduled for delivery by December 31, 2027.
Analyst estimates suggest the massive commitment covers roughly 30 new EUV machines, slightly above prior expectations. These highly complex and expensive tools, which can cost hundreds of millions of dollars each, are essential for printing the fine circuitry in the most advanced memory chips. ASML holds a global monopoly on EUV system manufacturing, making its order book a critical indicator for the direction of advanced chip production.
The equipment is destined for two key SK Hynix facilities in South Korea: the new plant in Yongin, whose opening is being accelerated to February 2027, and the M15X plant in Cheongju. The tools will be used for the production of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and advanced DRAM chips, which are in surging demand to power AI hardware like Nvidia's accelerators.
The market reacted positively to the news. SK Hynix stock closed 5.7% higher on the Seoul exchange, while ASML's shares rose approximately 0.9% in Amsterdam and around 4% in U.S. pre-market trading. Morgan Stanley flagged the deal as a potential upside catalyst for ASML, noting it could pressure the company's build capacity upward and reflects strong, committed demand beyond mere sentiment.
This order underscores the intense competition in the memory sector, particularly between SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, to secure scarce EUV production capacity and meet the exploding needs of the AI industry. ASML also counts Samsung and TSMC among its major EUV customers, but no previous publicly disclosed order matches the scale of SK Hynix's commitment.
