The Dutch company ASML, as basically the only company in the world that makes the lithography machines used to produce the most complex microchips, has again become a geopolitical pawn. The United States government is preparing to force the Netherlands to ban ASML from selling almost any chip-making machines to China, NU.nl reports.
I get that, nobody should get complacent. I’m from Eindhoven and I know many people at ASML. They are not complacent. They knew this day would come. They’re racing for the next big thing even after EUV, of course they are, but nothing lasts forever. The head start is real, China can make a couple of these machines where ASML builds 60 per year. And these machines don’t have anywhere near the chip production capacity of ASML’s