Marc Hijink, a technology reporter at Dutch daily NRC, has released "The ASML Way", a book that explores how the Dutch lithography champion rose to dominate semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
The Mandarin edition, just published in Taiwan and updated with developments through early 2025, underscores ASML's central role in the industry's fiercest battleground: next-generation lithography.
Competition reshaped by risk and collaboration
Hijink argues that ASML's rise was defined less by corporate slogans than by its ability to build trust with suppliers and customers.
Starting with only a few dozen engineers and no established supply chain, the company had to cultivate long-term partnerships—most notably with optics specialist Zeiss—and create an unusually open ecosystem that even shared intellectual property.
Unlike Philips, its former parent, ASML took its cues from customers in Asia who were willing to push the limits of new tools. This risk-taking, combined with constant co-development and rapid iteration, helped the company win business from Samsung and TSMC at a time when Intel's dominance was waning.
ASML's EUV push shifts power
A turning point came in 2013 with "Project Buccaneer," ASML's plan to industrialize extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography. It persuaded its three largest customers—Intel, TSMC, and Samsung—to co-invest. Intel initially sought to control the project, but ASML successfully resisted, ensuring no single customer dominated. From then on, industry roadmaps began to reflect the needs of TSMC and Samsung rather than Intel, a decisive shift in global market leadership.
Apple, TSMC, and the EUV breakthrough
ASML also played matchmaker in 2013 when Apple was seeking a manufacturing partner independent of Samsung.
Recognizing the iPhone as a "killer app" for EUV adoption, ASML helped connect Apple with TSMC. That partnership set the foundation for today's technology stack spanning Apple's custom silicon, TSMC's process leadership, and Nvidia's AI chips.
Intel's uphill climb
Hijink devotes particular attention to Intel's difficulties. Its traditional "copy exact" model, designed to reduce risk by replicating fabs, has left it trailing foundries that thrive on rapid optimization for yield and throughput.
To close the gap, Intel must do more than improve technology. It must overhaul its culture, win back customer trust, and adapt to the foundry business model.
Complexity, fragility, and folklore
Beyond competition, Hijink uses vivid stories to illustrate the industry's fragility. He recounts how methane emissions from Arizona dairy farms once disrupted Intel's Chandler fab, and how a supposed "Indian cemetery" beneath another fab inspired a shaman-led ritual to cure malfunctioning ASML machines. These tales serve to highlight how wafer yields can hinge on factors as mundane—or mystical—as air quality or building foundations.
Credit: DIGITIMES
From pandemic project to global stage
Hijink began following ASML closely in 2011 and deepened his reporting during the pandemic, when travel restrictions turned his attention to Dutch technology firms. An initial one-year observational project for NRC evolved into "The ASML Way" after a publisher recognized its broader relevance.
While he stresses he is no spokesman for ASML—he has published stories the firm disliked—Hijink credits the company with unusual openness. "The crazy thing was that they let me inside their way of thinking," he said, noting that access helped him portray not only technology but also corporate culture.
Looking ahead
Asked about ASML's future competition, Hijink suggested it may come not from another EUV supplier but from the "low end" of the market, where industrializing tools at scale remains a formidable challenge. EUV itself took nearly 15 years to achieve production readiness.
Ultimately, Hijink concludes that despite the billions invested and the geopolitics surrounding chips, semiconductor progress still depends on trust, relationships, and an enduring passion for innovation.
Article edited by Jack Wu
