# ASML > ASML, the Dutch company that makes every EUV chip-printing machine sold worldwide, is the central chokepoint in global semiconductor supply chains and a flashpoint in US-China technology competition. **Meta:** type: reference · date: 2026-07-03 · heads: · 4 takes · 2 lenses · 2 regions ## What it is ASML Holding N.V. is a Dutch semiconductor equipment company headquartered in Veldhoven, the Netherlands. It is the world's sole manufacturer of extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines, the tools that project circuit patterns onto silicon wafers at the atomic scales required for leading-edge chips. No competitor has replicated EUV production capability; Nikon and Canon, the only other significant lithography makers, produce deep-ultraviolet (DUV) systems that cannot reach EUV's resolution. ASML's EUV customers are the chip foundries and memory makers that define the global compute stack: TSMC (Taiwan), Samsung (South Korea), Intel (United States), SK Hynix (South Korea), and Micron (United States). Its machines do not compute; they enable the manufacturing of the machines that do. ## History ASML was founded on April 1, 1984, as ASM Lithography, a joint venture between Dutch conglomerate Philips and ASM International, starting in a leaky shed beside a Philips factory in Eindhoven. It moved to Veldhoven in 1985 and listed on the Amsterdam and Nasdaq exchanges in 1995 and 1997 respectively. EUV research began around 1997; ASML spent more than €6 billion on the technology over 17 years. A pivotal acquisition followed in 2013 when ASML bought US laser company Cymer for approximately US$2.5 billion, securing the tin-droplet light source at the heart of EUV. The first EUV production machine, the TWINSCAN NXE:3300, shipped in 2013. A decade later, in December 2023, ASML delivered the first High-NA EUV scanner, capable of supporting sub-2nm manufacturing nodes. ## Current state In 2025, ASML reported total net sales of €32.7 billion, net income of €9.6 billion, and a gross margin of 52.8%. Its order backlog at year-end stood at €38.8 billion. The company employed more than 44,000 people. ASML guided 2026 revenue at €34-39 billion, with gross margin of 51-53%. China had accounted for 33% of 2025 net sales, but progressive DUV export restrictions, tightened under US pressure from 2023 onward, compressed that share. ASML guided China's 2026 contribution at roughly 20%. The [June 2026 dispute](/zh/n/asml-euv-china-components-dispute) over alleged EUV-component shipments to China added political pressure: US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick alleged a breach; ASML denied it, saying all 314 installed EUV systems are fully accounted for. Separately, in September 2025 ASML deployed capital offensively, taking an 11% stake in French AI startup Mistral for €1.3 billion, a move covered in the [Mistral fundraising node](/zh/n/mistral-35bn-physics-ai-2026). ## Relationships ASML depends on roughly 4,000 suppliers across Europe and North America, including Carl Zeiss (Germany) for optical columns and Trumpf and Cymer for laser sources. Several of those upstream suppliers rely on specialty materials, and the EU's push to diversify critical raw-material supply, illustrated by [Kazakhstan's June 2026 deal package with Brussels](/zh/n/kazakh-eu-brussels-deals-jun25), has direct relevance to that supply chain. ASML's three largest customers, TSMC, Samsung, and Intel, collectively drive most EUV demand and exert roadmap influence. On the regulatory side, ASML is caught between Dutch and US export-control regimes: the Netherlands banned EUV exports to China in 2019, and later extended restrictions to certain DUV models in 2023. The Dutch government holds a 2.24% interest via a foundation structure, giving it influence over major ownership changes without granting a direct commercial veto. ## What to watch - Whether the US Bureau of Industry and Security opens a formal enforcement action following the June 2026 dispute, which would be the first such action against a major European equipment maker. - Take-up pace for High-NA EUV machines by TSMC and Intel, which sets the timetable for sub-2nm chip production. - China revenue trajectory: ASML guided approximately 20% in 2026, but further US-Dutch diplomatic pressure or a confirmed export violation could cut it faster. - Whether ASML's 2030 revenue target of €44-60 billion is achievable, and how much depends on AI-driven memory and logic demand sustaining chipmaker capex. ## Regional takes (batched by bias / lens) ### official record - **ASML 2025 Annual Report** (Netherlands, en) — ASML's full-year 2025 report covering financial performance, strategy, and 2030 outlook; total net sales €32.7 billion, net income €9.6 billion, 2026 revenue guidance of €34-39 billion, backlog of €38.8 billion. Source: https://www.asml.com/en/investors/annual-report/2025 - **ASML Q4 and Full-Year 2025 Financial Results** (Netherlands, en) — Press release confirming Q4 2025 net bookings of €13.2 billion (€7.4 billion EUV), end-of-year backlog €38.8 billion, gross margin 52.8%, and a new €12 billion share-buyback programme through December 2028. Source: https://www.asml.com/en/news/press-releases/2026/q4-2025-financial-results - **ASML Company History** (Netherlands, en) — ASML's own chronological record from the 1984 Philips-ASM joint venture through first EUV production shipment in 2013 and first High-NA EUV delivery in December 2023. Source: https://www.asml.com/en/company/about-asml/history ### markets / export controls - **CNBC** (United States, en) — Reports April 2026 US-proposed export curbs targeting ASML's remaining China business; analyses share-price impact and the cumulative effect of DUV restrictions that have already cut China from 33% of 2025 sales toward 20% in 2026. Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/07/asml-shares-today-us-chip-export-curbs-china.html ## Across the graph - Related: [[kazakh-eu-brussels-deals-jun25]], [[asml-euv-china-components-dispute]], [[mistral-35bn-physics-ai-2026]] - Entities: Corporate:asml, Netherlands, United States, Corporate:tsmc, Corporate:smic --- Canonical: https://rbtfl.xyz/zh/n/asml-dossier