ASML Holding investor relations material

The semiconductor picks & shovels play

Despite being one of the largest, by market cap, and most important players in the semiconductor industry, there is still a common misconception about ASML's business.

ASML does not manufacture chips or integrated circuits but caters to the needs of manufacturers like TSMC and Intel by selling lithography machines used in manufacturing. They have a near monopolistic market position in this segment and sell machines with price tags of 200 million dollars.

Background and history

ASML was actually launched as a subsidiary of the Dutch electronics giant Philips back in 1984, in a leaky shed next to Philips' office in Eindhoven. Roughly ten years later, ASML became a fully independent public company and have since then returned more than 26,000% to its shareholders, excluding dividends. In fact, you could today fit twelve Philips inside ASML's market cap.