Artificial Intelligence · Profile from AI Research Companion
ASML
The Dutch maker of the lithography machines that print the patterns on computer chips, and the only company in the world that can build extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) scanners, without which no leading-edge AI chip can be made at reasonable cost. Founded in 1984 as a joint venture between Philips and ASM International, ASML spent two decades and billions of euros, part of it paid by its own customers, developing EUV, and since 2019 it has sold every EUV tool used by TSMC, Samsung and Intel. Its net sales were €32.7bn in 2025 with net income of €9.6bn (company), and it guided ~€44–45bn for 2026 (October 2026), up from €34–39bn in January as AI demand surged. It is also a geopolitical instrument: Dutch licences, under US pressure, have kept EUV out of China since 2019 and restricted advanced DUV tools since 2023. Its value crossed $500bn on January 15, 2026 (reported), and in September 2025 it became the largest shareholder in France's Mistral AI.
At a glance
- Founded
- April 1, 1984 as ASM Lithography, a 50:50 joint venture of Philips and ASM International (company)
- Founders
- Philips (the lithography group of its NatLab research lab) and Arthur del Prado's ASM International; first CEO Gjalt Smit
- Headquarters
- Veldhoven, Netherlands (near Eindhoven); major sites in Wilton (Connecticut), San Diego (Cymer), San Jose, Taiwan and South Korea
- Ownership / structure
- Listed on Euronext Amsterdam (ASML) and Nasdaq (ASML) since 1995; widely held by institutions. Intel, TSMC and Samsung bought ~23% in 2012 under the customer co-investment programme and have since sold all or most of it (reported, verify)
- Leadership (2026)
- Christophe Fouquet (president and CEO since April 24, 2024); Roger Dassen (CFO); Nils Andersen (chair of the supervisory board, verify)
- Products
- EUV scanners (NXE:3800E low-NA; EXE:5000/5200 High-NA); DUV immersion (TWINSCAN NXT:2000i and later) and dry DUV (ArF, KrF, i-line); metrology and inspection (YieldStar, HMI e-beam); computational lithography software; Installed Base Management (service, upgrades, refurbishment)
- Scale
- Sole supplier of EUV; ~90% of the lithography market by value (reported, verify); ~44,000 employees (2024, verify) before ~1,700 job cuts announced January 2026
- Revenue and profit
- 2025: net sales €32.7bn; net income €9.6bn; gross margin 52.8%; net bookings €28.0bn; year-end backlog €38.8bn (company, reported). Q3 2026: net sales €11.7bn; gross margin 57.5%; net income €5.0bn; 113 new lithography systems sold (company, October 14, 2026)
- Capital / regulatory status
- Exports licensed by the Dutch government; subject to US rules through the foreign direct product rule and US-origin content (its Cymer light sources are made in San Diego)
- Signature moves (incl. failures)
- Philips–ASM joint venture (1984); customer co-investment and Cymer (2012–13); EUV goes to volume (2017–19); China EUV licence withheld (2019–); DUV export restrictions and China stockpiling (2023–25); High-NA EUV (2023–26); the 2024 growth pause, leaked results and the Fouquet transition (2024); the Mistral AI investment (2025)
8 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
1984
Philips ASM Joint Venture
Founding
2012
Customer Co Investment and Cymer
Funding round / acquisition
2017
EUV Goes to Volume
Launch
2019
China EUV Licence Withheld
Regulatory action
2023
DUV Export Restrictions and China Stockpiling
Regulatory action
2023
High NA EUV
Launch
2024
Growth Pause Leaked Results and Fouquet
Restructuring / leadership change
2025
Mistral AI Investment
Investment / partnership