TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is slated to receive its first shipment of ASML’s advanced chipmaking machines by end of 2024.

The machines, which use high numerical aperture extreme ultraviolet (high NA EUV) lithography, are the most expensive chip manufacturing equipment in the world, Nikkei Asia reported on Friday (Nov. 1). Each unit costs approximately US$350 million (NT$11.19 billion).

TSMC will install the new equipment at its R&D center near its headquarters in Hsinchu in Q4, sources familiar with the matter said.

“Based on current R&D results, there's no pressing need to use the latest version of high NA EUV machines,” one industry source said. “But TSMC won't rule out any chance to do comprehensive pathfinding and engineering work and conduct trial runs with the most advanced tools available in the industry.”

Meanwhile, Intel installed the first batch of high NA EUV exposure machines at its R&D center in Oregon several months ago and is testing them for production, per CNA. The second batch of machines was shipped to Intel in Q2.

To focus on its own technology development, Intel has outsourced some of its CPU manufacturing work for this year and next to TSMC.