(Yicai) April 27 -- ASML Holding is planning to recruit about 300 people in China this year to keep pace with growing and changing customer demand, according to the Dutch chip equipment maker’s global executive vice president.

These positions include customer service engineers, technical support engineers and installation engineers, Shen Bo, who is also president of the Veldhoven-based company's China operations, told Yicai in a recent interview.

Chinese customers are improving chip performance through different technological pathways, such as redesigning chip architecture and experimenting with new packaging techniques, Shen said. These areas are still being explored through multiple approaches, which means there is a lot of room for innovation.

There is increasing interaction between front-end and back-end processes in the chip industry, Shen said. Some firms that traditionally focused only on packaging are now becoming ASLM customers as well.

In recent years, Chinese mainland has been a major market for ASML, contributing more than 30 percent of its global revenue. However, due to US export restrictions, that share tumbled to 19 percent in the first quarter from 33 percent last year, according to the company’s latest financial report.

Despite these challenges, ASML has raised its global revenue forecast for this year to between EUR36 billion (USD42.2 billion) and EUR40 billion from between EUR34 billion and EUR39 billion, thanks to strong demand driven by artificial intelligence, the report said.

Globally, ASML's new orders remain robust, Shen said. New applications and demands are emerging almost daily, he said, citing a recent conversation with a tech firm. The industry's focus is shifting from whether demand exists to whether supply chains and production capacity can keep up.

One of ASML’s main challenges right now is capacity, Shen said. Lithography machines take a long time to produce. For some models, it can take several months to over two years from sourcing components to final delivery.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Kim Taylor