ASML Competitors: Why Intel and Samsung Can't Catch Up

ASML holds 90% of the global extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography market. With EUV machines priced at approximately $200 million each, this Dutch company generates over $1 billion in quarterly profits while competitors like Intel and Samsung remain dependent customers rather than challengers.

Tech giants Intel and Samsung possess substantial resources—Intel alone reports $79 billion in annual revenues—yet neither company has managed to develop viable alternatives to ASML's technology. The barriers extend far beyond financial capacity. ASML's 37.9% revenue increase to €18.6 billion in 2021 demonstrates a market position that continues strengthening rather than facing disruption.

This analysis examines why Intel, despite its status as a leading semiconductor manufacturer, relies entirely on ASML's technology for advanced chip production. We'll explore how other players in the semiconductor equipment space—including Applied Materials, Lam Research, Canon, and Nikon—position themselves in this market. Most importantly, we'll reveal why these companies' combined resources and expertise still can't challenge ASML's technological dominance.

The semiconductor industry's future depends on understanding these competitive dynamics. Whether you're tracking industry trends or making strategic decisions, this breakdown of ASML's competitive landscape will show you why one company controls the most critical technology in modern chip manufacturing.

Why Intel and Samsung struggle to compete with ASML

ASML doesn't just lead the EUV lithography market—it owns it completely. This monopoly creates barriers that even tech giants like Intel and Samsung cannot overcome, despite their massive financial resources and technical expertise.

ASML's monopoly on EUV lithography

ASML serves as the world's only supplier of EUV lithography systems. The company achieved this position through 17 years of development that culminated in 2017, when their EUV technology became commercially viable. That journey required $6.5 billion in R&D investment. Today, ASML has delivered approximately 140 EUV systems globally, each carrying a price tag up to $200 million.

This monopoly goes beyond market share—it represents technological necessity. Manufacturing the world's most advanced processor chips requires ASML's EUV technology. No alternatives exist. ASML strengthened this position through strategic acquisitions, including Cymer in San Diego, which produces the critical EUV light source.

The result? Complete market control over the technology that enables cutting-edge semiconductor manufacturing.

The cost and complexity of catching up

Industry experts estimate that developing competitive EUV technology from scratch would cost "multiple trillions of dollars"—equivalent to entire national economies. This figure assumes companies could navigate existing intellectual property barriers, which itself presents enormous challenges.

Technical complexity matches the financial burden:

• Each EUV system contains over 100,000 specialized components

• Operating environments must be cleaner than outer space

• Transportation requires 20 trucks, 40 freight containers, and three Boeing 747 jets

These hurdles explain why Canon and Nikon—established lithography competitors—abandoned their EUV development programs. Industry analyst G. Dan Hutcheson captures the reality: "No single company can afford to do it alone, as R&D becomes more and more expensive".

Intel and Samsung's reliance on ASML machines

Both companies demonstrate this dependence despite their industry leadership in other areas. Intel's manufacturing struggles have forced the company to rely increasingly on external foundries like TSMC for advanced chip production. This outsourcing ironically drives more demand for ASML's equipment. Intel's response?

Becoming the first customer to order ASML's next-generation High-NA EUV machine at approximately $380 million per unit.

Samsung faces similar constraints. Economic pressures have forced the memory leader to reduce capital expenditures, delaying purchases of advanced EUV systems needed for cutting-edge DRAM production.

The numbers tell the story: only five chipmakers worldwide can afford these machines. Without continuous access to ASML's technology, neither Intel nor Samsung can manufacture chips at 2nm nodes and beyond—technology essential for future computing.

ASML's competitive edge in the semiconductor industry

ASML's market position extends far beyond current dominance. The company has built strategic advantages that competitors like Applied Materials and Lam Research cannot replicate, creating what industry experts call an "economic moat" around their technology.

Exclusive access to EUV technology

ASML's EUV technology represents the culmination of decades of research that competitors abandoned due to complexity and cost. The company protects this advantage through over 13,000 patents worldwide, creating a formidable intellectual property shield.

This technological lead extends approximately 3-5 years ahead of potential competitors in semiconductor equipment manufacturing.

ASML's position becomes truly unassailable through their ownership of critical suppliers.

When ASML acquired Cymer in 2013, they secured the only viable source of EUV light sources. Similarly, their ownership of Hermes Microvision (HMI) provides exclusive access to pattern verification technology. These acquisitions essentially locked out potential competitors from accessing fundamental EUV components.

Deep R&D investment and innovation cycles

ASML dedicates approximately 14% of annual revenue to research and development—a commitment few competitors can match. This translates to billions of euros advancing lithography technology each year. The company maintains research facilities across the Netherlands, United States, and Asia, enabling access to global talent pools.

The company's innovation approach follows a long-term roadmap extending 5-10 years into the future. Their development of High-NA EUV technology exemplifies this strategy. These next-generation lithography machines will enable 2nm and smaller chip nodes, with first shipments costing approximately $300 million each expected to begin in 2023.

Strategic partnerships with TSMC, Intel, and others

ASML's relationships with leading chipmakers form another cornerstone of competitive advantage. The company maintains "technical development customer" arrangements with TSMC, Samsung, and Intel. These partnerships secure steady revenue while providing valuable feedback that shapes future technology development.

These relationships also manifest as financial investments. Intel, TSMC, and Samsung collectively invested €1.38 billion in ASML's research programs, demonstrating both their dependence on ASML technology and their stake in its success.

ASML collaborates with more than 800 specialized technology partners and suppliers globally, creating an extensive innovation ecosystem that competitors cannot replicate.

Vertical integration and supply chain control

ASML has strategically integrated critical components of their supply chain, unlike many equipment manufacturers who rely heavily on third-party suppliers.

The company maintains tight control over key technological elements through subsidiaries:

• HMI (pattern verification technology)

• Cymer (light sources)

• Berliner Glas (critical optical components)

This vertical integration provides quality control throughout manufacturing while protecting against supply chain disruptions that have plagued the semiconductor industry. Most importantly, ASML's supply chain strategy creates another barrier for competitors—any new entrant would need to develop their own versions of these critical components or find alternative suppliers in a highly specialized market where few exist.

Through technological exclusivity, sustained R&D investment, strategic partnerships, and vertical integration, ASML has created a competitive position that appears essentially unassailable for the foreseeable future.

Intel and Samsung's capabilities: Why size doesn't guarantee success

Intel and Samsung command massive resources. Intel's annual R&D budget exceeds $15 billion, while Samsung has committed $17 billion to a single fab in Taylor, Texas. Yet both companies remain customers rather than competitors to ASML.

Intel's lithography development efforts

Intel's Components Research and Technology Development teams have spent decades on lithography technology. Their focus, however, has centered on improving existing DUV (deep ultraviolet) lithography rather than developing EUV alternatives.

The company's 2022 attempt to acquire Tower Semiconductor for $5.4 billion exemplifies this approach. The deal aimed to strengthen foundry services but addressed mature node manufacturing rather than the EUV gap. Intel's research partnerships with universities and over 1,500 semiconductor manufacturing patents demonstrate significant effort—yet none have produced a viable ASML alternative.

Intel's dependency became clear when they ordered ASML's next-generation High-NA EUV machine for approximately $340 million per unit.

Samsung's memory market dominance

Samsung leads global memory chip manufacturing with several breakthrough innovations:

• First to mass-produce 3D NAND flash (2013)

• Industry-leading HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) technology

• Advanced DRAM manufacturing capabilities

Samsung has implemented sophisticated lithography enhancement techniques, including multi-patterning approaches and directed self-assembly. These methods extend existing tool capabilities but cannot match ASML's EUV precision. Despite these strengths, Samsung has purchased multiple ASML EUV systems for their advanced manufacturing lines.

The fundamental business reality

Both companies face an unavoidable truth: developing competitive EUV technology would require at least a decade of focused research with uncertain outcomes. During this period, competitors using ASML's technology would continue advancing, potentially leaving them behind.

The astronomical investment required—industry experts estimate "multiple trillions of dollars"—makes internal EUV development economically unfeasible. Both Intel and Samsung have adopted collaboration strategies with ASML while focusing internal efforts on complementary technologies and manufacturing optimizations.

Takeaways

Neither Intel nor Samsung can challenge ASML's EUV dominance despite their impressive capabilities. The technical complexity and investment requirements make true competition impossible for the foreseeable future. Instead, these tech giants have chosen strategic collaboration over costly competition.

Other major ASML competitors and their market share

Several major players compete with ASML across the broader semiconductor equipment market. While none challenge EUV lithography dominance, these companies have carved out significant positions in other critical manufacturing segments.

Applied Materials

Applied Materials actually surpasses ASML in overall semiconductor equipment market share, holding 20% compared to ASML's 18% in 2023. The company generated $26.50 billion in revenue in 2023, focusing on materials engineering, deposition, and etching technologies rather than lithography.

Applied Materials' strength lies in its diversified equipment portfolio covering multiple chip-making steps. The company commands a 30% market share in deposition technology, a critical process for building layers within semiconductors. This specialization strategy allows Applied Materials to maintain market leadership without directly challenging ASML's EUV monopoly.

Lam Research

Lam Research dominates etching equipment with an impressive 45% market share, making it essential for creating complex chip architectures like 3D NAND memory and FinFET transistors. The company's $17.40 billion revenue in 2023 represents approximately 11% of the global semiconductor equipment market.

Etching technology removes material with precise control, a process that becomes increasingly important as chip designs grow more complex. Lam Research's focus on this specialized area has positioned it as the third-largest player after Applied Materials and ASML.

KLA Corporation

KLA controls over 50% of the metrology and inspection market segment, providing systems that measure pattern dimensions and film thickness with extreme precision. Despite this niche dominance, KLA's overall semiconductor equipment market share slipped from 8% to 7% in 2023.

The company's technology becomes critical as chip features shrink to atomic scales. Without accurate measurement and inspection, even ASML's precise EUV lithography would fail to produce working chips consistently.

Nikon and Canon

Both companies once dominated lithography alongside ASML but now focus on older DUV technologies. Canon sold 187 units of DUV equipment in 2023—over 40% of ASML's total unit shipments—and projects 247 units in 2024. Combined with ASML, these three companies account for 45% of the lithography equipment market.

Canon recently began commercializing nanoimprint lithography technology in 2023, potentially offering an alternative approach for specific applications. However, this technology faces significant challenges in throughput and yield compared to ASML's EUV systems.

Axcelis and Veeco

Smaller specialized players serve important niche markets. Axcelis designs ion implantation systems experiencing robust demand in silicon carbide applications, driven by electric vehicle production requirements.

Veeco provides equipment across multiple supply chain segments, with particular strength in laser annealing and wet processing technologies. The company benefits from compound semiconductor growth driven by 5G, display, and power electronics markets.

Takeaways

Each competitor has found success by specializing in specific manufacturing steps rather than attempting to challenge ASML's EUV dominance. Applied Materials leads through diversification, Lam Research dominates etching, and KLA controls inspection—all complementary to rather than competitive with ASML's lithography technology.

What the future holds for ASML and its competition

ASML's EUV dominance faces no immediate threats, but several emerging efforts deserve attention for their potential long-term impact on the competitive landscape.

Can anyone break ASML's EUV dominance?

Russia has announced development of an 11.2 nm EUV lithography system. This project uses xenon gas jets ionized by lasers instead of ASML's tin-based plasma approach. Russian engineers claim 20% higher resolution and reduced debris contamination.

The timeline reveals the challenge's magnitude. Russia projects a working prototype by 2028 and production capabilities by 2030—placing them 10-20 years behind ASML's current position. The technical hurdles are substantial: mirror reflectivity reaches only 50% compared to ASML's 70%, requiring significantly more laser power. Russia's prototype operates with just 3.6 kW laser power, creating stochastic effects and electron blur issues.

Most critically, any alternative system would need entirely new ecosystems for photoresists, software tools, and metrology. Building these supporting technologies represents another decade of development work.

Emerging technologies and potential disruptors

China's semiconductor self-sufficiency push includes approximately $50 billion in annual investment. Despite this massive funding, Chinese technological capabilities remain significantly behind ASML's established position. The gap extends beyond hardware to the specialized knowledge required for EUV system integration and optimization.

Alternative approaches like nanoimprint lithography and directed self-assembly continue advancing, but none have demonstrated the precision and throughput needed for high-volume manufacturing at advanced nodes.

ASML's roadmap and long-term strategy

ASML's response centers on High-NA EUV technology—the next generation with numerical aperture of 0.55 compared to current systems' 0.33. Series production begins in 2026, enabling even smaller transistors and extending Moore's Law beyond 2030.

The engineering achievement is extraordinary. Projection optics alone weigh twelve tons and contain over 40,000 parts. ASML and ZEISS have invested more than 25 years of development and billions of euros in this technology, protected by around 1,500 ZEISS patents.

Takeaways

With no viable EUV alternative existing and ASML's aggressive R&D investment pipeline, the company maintains its technological leadership for the foreseeable future. Potential challengers face not just technical barriers but the challenge of building entire ecosystems while ASML continues advancing its own technology.

Understanding ASML's unshakeable position

ASML's EUV lithography dominance represents more than market leadership—it demonstrates how technological barriers can create insurmountable competitive moats. Intel and Samsung, despite their combined resources exceeding $90 billion in annual revenues, remain customers rather than challengers to ASML's technology.

The financial reality speaks clearly. Developing competitive EUV technology would require "multiple trillions of dollars" with no guarantee of success. Meanwhile, ASML continues widening its technological lead through sustained R&D investments and strategic partnerships with the industry's biggest players.

Other semiconductor equipment companies have adapted to this reality by focusing on complementary technologies. Applied Materials leads in deposition technology with 30% market share. Lam Research dominates etching equipment with 45% market share. KLA Corporation controls over 50% of metrology and inspection. None challenge ASML's EUV monopoly.

Takeaways

Russia's 11.2 nm EUV initiative and China's semiconductor investments face technical obstacles that place them 10-20 years behind ASML's current capabilities. ASML's High-NA EUV technology, scheduled for 2026 production, will extend this lead further.

For industry observers and strategic planners, ASML's position illustrates how early technological advantages can become permanent competitive barriers. The semiconductor industry will continue operating around ASML's innovation timeline, with major chipmakers scheduling their roadmaps according to ASML's technology releases.

Whether you're tracking semiconductor trends or making investment decisions, ASML's story shows why understanding technological moats matters more than financial resources in determining long-term market winners.

FAQs

Q1. Why is it difficult for other companies to compete with ASML in EUV lithography?

ASML has invested decades and billions of dollars into developing EUV technology, creating a significant technological lead and patent portfolio that is extremely challenging for competitors to overcome. The complexity and cost of developing alternative EUV systems are prohibitively high for most companies.

Q2. How does ASML maintain its competitive edge in the semiconductor industry?

ASML maintains its edge through exclusive access to EUV technology, sustained R&D investment, strategic partnerships with major chipmakers, and vertical integration of critical components in its supply chain. This combination of factors makes it very difficult for competitors to catch up.

Q3. Why do Intel and Samsung still rely on ASML's technology despite their own capabilities?

While Intel and Samsung have significant internal capabilities, developing EUV technology comparable to ASML's would require extraordinary resources and time. It's more cost-effective for them to collaborate with ASML and focus their efforts on other aspects of chip manufacturing.

Q4. Are there any potential alternatives to ASML's EUV technology on the horizon?

Some alternatives like nanoimprint lithography are being explored, but they face significant challenges in terms of yield and throughput. Russia has announced plans for an EUV system, but it's still many years behind ASML's technology. For the foreseeable future, ASML's EUV dominance appears secure.

Q5. How is ASML planning to maintain its technological leadership in the future?

ASML is focusing on developing High-NA EUV technology, the next generation of lithography with even higher precision. This technology, scheduled for series production in 2026, will enable the creation of even smaller transistors and continue Moore's Law beyond 2030, further cementing ASML's leadership position.