ASML says AI chip boom isn’t over as customers line up for High NA tools

Dutch chip-tool maker ASML told Reuters the AI boom is still running: its roughly $200 million extreme ultraviolet (EUV) machines — the tools that print the tiniest circuits in advanced AI chips — are basically sold out through 2027, and big customers are committing to the next generation of roughly $400 million High NA tools.

Same-day counterweight to SoftBank and Asia-chip selloff filings — the company that prints the world’s most advanced AI chips says demand is still “give me more, faster,” with High NA adoption locked into the late 2020s and 2030, not cooling off.

Toby Sterling, writing from Amsterdam on 14 Sep for Reuters, reported that ASML — the Dutch company that makes lithography machines, the printers that draw circuit patterns onto silicon wafers — broke ground last week on a new plant in Eindhoven. CFO Roger Dassen told Reuters the AI boom had transformed the mood among customers. That Reuters interview wrap is the filing event. This desk did not attend the groundbreaking.

Reuters says ASML’s existing roughly $200 million EUV machines — extreme ultraviolet tools that use a special kind of light to print the smallest features in advanced AI chips — are all but sold out through 2027. Customers have made a flurry of commitments to the next generation: High NA, or high numerical aperture, EUV tools that cost about $400 million. File those prices and the sold-out line as Reuters’. This desk is not saying High NA is already in high-volume production at TSMC or Samsung.

Dassen, as Reuters reports the tone of one recent talk with a major customer: “Can you give me more? Can you give it to me fast?” File the quote. This desk is not inventing an order book.

CEO Christophe Fouquet told Reuters by phone: “I don’t think we’re at the end of (the AI boom), to be honest.” File his words. This is not a demand forecast from this desk.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is the world’s biggest contract chipmaker. Reuters says it makes chips for Apple and Nvidia. TSMC had previously questioned whether High NA was worth the about $400 million price. It has now committed to using the technology from 2030. File that as Reuters. This is a future production date — not a claim that TSMC is running High NA at high volume today.

Samsung said it will start memory-chip production with High NA tools in 2028. Morningstar analyst Javier Correonero told Reuters that was earlier than the market expected. File his attributed view. SK Hynix, another memory specialist, also said it will use High NA from 2028. Micron has ordered tools but has not set a production date. Do not upgrade those calendars to chips already shipping from those lines.

Intel, the first adopter, said it has now processed more than a million wafers with High NA tools, and Reuters says the machines are meeting throughput and reliability standards. A wafer is the round silicon disc chips are cut from. File those as Intel via Reuters — not as high-volume High NA at TSMC or Samsung.

High NA can print features about 40% smaller than standard EUV — the lines on the chip can be that much finer — and costs roughly twice as much. Reuters says High NA first shipped in 2023. Those are Reuters’ comparisons, not this desk’s lab test.

JPMorgan, as cited by Reuters, estimates ASML held about 94% of the global lithography market in 2025. At the cutting edge, Reuters says ASML has had a monopoly since the late 2010s on EUV machines needed for the smallest circuitry in the most powerful commercial AI chips. File the share as JPMorgan via Reuters. This desk is not giving investment advice.

Japan’s Nikon and Canon, plus emerging Chinese rivals, make older deep-ultraviolet machines — a previous generation of chip printers. Correonero told Reuters that fears those firms are close to catching ASML in lithography amount to “misinformation.” File that as his word.

Fouquet told Reuters the bar for memory firms to adopt High NA is lower because their finished chips are smaller. Quoted: “You see a bit more aggressiveness in the plans of those guys on many things, that includes High NA.” And: “All of them are moving forward with plans to adopt High NA in high-volume manufacturing.” File the plans as his. This is not a claim that high-volume High NA memory production has already started.

REPORTED here: Reuters’ 14 Sep Amsterdam wrap by Toby Sterling, from a Fouquet phone interview plus Dassen quotes and customer-timeline attributions. NOT claimed: a stock move, an earnings print, that High NA is already in high-volume production at TSMC or Samsung, or investment advice from this desk. Distinct from the already-filed softbank-tokyo-plunge-ai-safety, asia-chips-plunge-ai-slowdown, and samsung-sk-reject-kepco-power-prepay.