China breaks ASML's monopoly on chip lithography

China breaks ASML's monopoly: lithography is no longer European

Has China achieved what seemed impossible: breaking ASML's monopoly on semiconductor lithography machines? The news, which broke in recent hours, shakes the foundations of an industry that had taken European superiority for granted.

The Dutch company is the sole supplier of EUV lithography systems, the technology needed to manufacture the most advanced chips. If the Chinese can now produce their own machines, the geopolitical chessboard of semiconductors changes completely. The most paradoxical part: US pressure to limit exports to Beijing may have been the missing catalyst.

Competition, prices and skepticism

There are conflicting readings. Those celebrating the news claim that the arrival of a competitor in the lithography club will make chips cheaper, as their prices have soared. Others point out that ASML has spent decades building its position, and that replicating that technology is not a matter of months. Only time will tell who is right.

Washington's shadow looms over the matter. American pressure on China would have pushed Beijing to accelerate its technological independence. If so, Europe, which depends on ASML, is once again paying the price for a war it did not choose.

Meanwhile, the markets do not seem to have received the news with the euphoria some predicted. The forecast collapse of ASML is nowhere to be seen. But in the industry, nothing will ever be the same. Final irony: the world's most advanced technology, which the West sought to control, may have found its best ally in external pressure.