
Barred from selling many of its top-end machines in China, and a victim of data thefts, ASML is doing the only thing it can to preserve its almost insurmountable lead: building evermore sophisticated machines. Its next contraption, about the size of an Amsterdam studio apartment, is set to hit markets in 2025. With a price tag of more than $380 million — costlier than a Boeing 787 Dreamliner — it will be capable of etching delicate patterns on silicon wafers smaller than a virus. Already way ahead of rivals, ASML is making sure no one can do what it does for the foreseeable future. Its only real hurdle will be technological limits — building machines that are viable and economical for mass production. “The big long-term risk is that new lithography systems are too costly and unwieldy to produce,” said Chip War author Miller. “ASML will bring its high-NA systems online, but the generation after that, hyper-NA, is still in development. Some ASML staff have speculated it may be too difficult to mass-produce.”