AIBRIEF
ASML is the Dutch firm whose chip stamping equipment prints every advanced chip, the only one on Earth that does; China's new deep ultraviolet machines are early stage and lag ASML's.
ASML is the only company on Earth that mass-produces the lithography machines that print the most advanced chips. On Tuesday, its shares slid nearly 5% in premarket trading after The Information and Reuters reported that a Chinese state-backed firm had begun manufacturing its own deep-ultraviolet (DUV) chip-stamping machines. The slide followed a nearly 6% drop on Monday.
Per sources cited by Reuters and The Information, China plans to manufacture five DUV machines this year and roughly 20 next year. ASML expects to ship about 130 comparable machines in 2026. The Chinese machines are at an early stage and do not yet match ASML's technology.
A second supplier at the lithography layer would erode ASML's pricing power on its most advanced tools. If China's DUV shipments stay at five per year and do not compound, ASML's position is unchanged.
ASML has been barred by US and Dutch rules from shipping its most advanced extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) machines to China. The new Chinese effort targets the older DUV layer, not the leading edge. ASML did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Five machines this year, 20 next, on the way to a credible second supplier, or a five-machine pilot that never scales.