ASML Holding NV (ASML) today announced it was awarded a customer contract from Winbond Electronics Corporation, a global provider of telecommunications memory devices, to equip its 300 mm fab in Taiwan. No financial details are being disclosed.

Taiwan is the fourth largest producer of semiconductors worldwide and home to a thriving memory chip market. Winbond and other major memory producers continue to invest in new lithography capacity within the country.

"Winbond selected ASML as its products provide superior value of ownership that extends from the current to the next generation of technology," said Arthur Chiao, chairman, Winbond. "Our goal is to use our new facility, Fab 6, to build on our leadership in mobile memory and specialty DRAM chips. ASML’s technology gives Winbond a competitive edge."

ASML will install systems from its TWINSCAN platform starting in June 2005.

"Through its new alliance with Winbond, ASML continues to gain share in the Taiwan memory market," said Eric Meurice, president and CEO, ASML. "Memory producers recognize that the easy installations and superior productivity and production quality provided by ASML systems are beneficial in a highly competitive market."

This order from ASML reflects the continued growth of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, which achieved record sales of $35.4 billion in 2004, according to the Taiwanese government.