The Dutch lithography specialist secures order commitments through 2030 as AI demand drives adoption of its $400m systems.
Dutch semiconductor equipment manufacturer ASML is poised to extend its dominance of the chip-printing market into the next decade, buoyed by a wave of customer commitments to its next-generation High (Numerical Aperture) NA Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) systems.
Speaking as the firm broke ground on a new facility in Eindhoven, Chief Financial Officer Roger Dassen highlighted that ASML’s existing $200 million EUV machines are effectively sold out through 2027. Meanwhile, major customers are accelerating plans to adopt the company’s $400 million High NA tools to support expanding artificial intelligence workloads.
“I don’t think we’re at the end of [the AI boom], to be honest,” Chief Executive Christophe Fouquet told Reuters, noting that adoption plans among leading chipmakers are progressing rapidly.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC)—which supplies Apple and Nvidia—has committed to deploying High NA technology in high-volume production from 2030, putting to rest earlier industry doubts over the technology’s cost-effectiveness.
High NA systems can print circuit features roughly 40 per cent smaller than standard EUV equipment. While the units carry double the price tag of previous-generation systems, they significantly reduce manufacturing steps and increase overall output for cutting-edge silicon.
According to JPMorgan estimates, ASML held a 94 per cent share of the global lithography market in 2025 and maintains a total monopoly on advanced EUV technology. Morningstar analyst Javier Correonero dismissed suggestions that Asian competitors were closing the technology gap as “misinformation.”
Memory chipmakers are moving particularly quickly. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix both announced plans to begin memory production using High NA tools in 2028, while Micron has placed orders for the equipment. Fouquet noted that memory manufacturers face a lower adoption threshold due to smaller physical chip dimensions.
Early adopter Intel confirmed it has already processed over one million silicon wafers using High NA tools, demonstrating that the systems are meeting commercial throughput and reliability benchmarks ahead of widespread industry deployment.
