ASML became Europe’s most valuable technology company by supplying machines used to make advanced chips.
ASML Holding is a Dutch company that designs and manufactures lithography systems. Semiconductor manufacturers use these highly complex machines to print microscopic circuit patterns onto silicon wafers. ASML’s extreme-ultraviolet, or EUV, systems are used for some of the most advanced chip-production processes.
The company’s strategic importance helped drive a very high market capitalization as demand grew for processors used in artificial intelligence, data centers, and premium electronics. ASML does not generally design the finished processors found in computers or phones; it supplies critical manufacturing equipment to chipmakers such as TSMC, Samsung, and Intel.
A common mix-up is treating ASML as a chip manufacturer. Its role is closer to that of a specialized industrial technology supplier. Its market value reflects the unusual difficulty of reproducing its equipment and the importance of advanced lithography to the semiconductor supply chain.