Samsung Electronics Co. sold the entirety of its remaining stake in ASML Holding NV during the December quarter as part of its effort to diversify into other chip-making markets, Bloomberg reported. The largest memory manufacturer in the world sold 1.58 million shares, or 0.4 per cent, of ASML, as per the company's most recent quarterly financial report to regulators. According to a previous company filing, the stake was valued at approximately 1.26 trillion won ($930 million) at the end of September. In 2012, Samsung paid roughly 700 billion won to purchase a 3 per cent share in the Dutch chip gear manufacturer. The South Korean company sold half of its stake four years later. Samsung has progressively decreased its ownership since the second quarter of the previous year. In the race for high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, chips—which are needed to train Nvidia Corp.'s accelerators for artificial intelligence—Samsung is attempting to overtake rival SK Hynix Inc. Additionally, it aims to reduce the lead Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. has in the production of contract chips. Samsung declined to comment on the matter.
