UPDATE 1-ASML CFO says decline in China sales not linked with previous stockpiling

ASML's expected decline in China sales is not due to previous stockpiling by its Chinese customers, finance chief Roger Dassen told reporters on Wednesday. The world's biggest supplier of computer chip equipment said in its third-quarter earnings report that it expected a significant fall in demand from China next year.

ASML's expected decline in China sales is not due to previous stockpiling by its Chinese customers, finance chief Roger Dassen told reporters on Wednesday.

The world's biggest supplier of computer chip equipment said in its third-quarter earnings report that it expected a significant fall in demand from China next year. "The reason I rule out stockpiling is because systems that we ship ... are actually in a chips factory", the CFO said.

China has been the world's largest buyer of chipmaking tools since 2020, leading analysts to think some of these tools ended in stockpiles ahead of more U.S. export restrictions. Chinese system orders represented 42% of all ASML machine sales in the third quarter. The company earlier said

demand for this year was stronger than expected.