ASML says it has no sales of chipmaking equipment in Europe
ASML executive Frank Heemskerk warned that the Dutch chip-machine maker has not sold any equipment to European customers, highlighting a broader lack of investment in the region.
During a September gathering in Amsterdam, Frank Heemskerk, executive vice-president of ASML, announced that the company has not delivered any chip-making machines to European buyers. The latest quarterly results showed a more than 20% increase in revenue compared with the previous year, with the bulk of sales coming from South Korea, Taiwan, China, the United States and Japan. ASML’s leadership sees the absence of European sales as a symptom of the continent’s waning role in the highly strategic semiconductor industry.
Heemskerk emphasized that chips are essential to a wide range of products, including smartphones, televisions, cars and AI-focused servers. Despite this importance, he argued that Europe is not investing sufficiently and lacks new semiconductor fabrication plants. The executive’s remarks underscore concerns about Europe’s competitiveness in a sector often described as the new "black gold."
Why it matters
The lack of European sales signals a widening technology gap and could affect the region’s economic competitiveness.
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