ASML Holding is so critical for the global semiconductor industry that it effectively controls the pace of advanced chip manufacturing worldwide.
ASML doesn’t sell consumer products or even chips; it builds the machines that make chips. Its systems are used by industry giants like TSMC, Intel, and Samsung Electronics to produce the world’s most advanced semiconductors.
It has a monopoly over Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines — arguably the most complex machines ever manufactured. In fact, ASML is the only company in the world capable of producing EUV systems, which cost between $150 million and $350 million each.
Despite this dominance, ASML does not operate in a vacuum. The semiconductor equipment market is vast and highly specialized, with different companies controlling different parts of the manufacturing process.
Below, I’ve featured the top ASML competitors from a broader perspective (not just traditional market-share comparisons). This is not a typical winner-takes-all market; it is a deeply interconnected ecosystem, where companies compete, collaborate, and coexist.
Did you know?The global semiconductor equipment market is projected to exceed $338 billion by 2034, growing at a CAGR of of 11.1%. Currently, no single company, including ASML, covers the entire value chain. [1]
Table of Contents
13. Onto Innovation
Founded: 2019Headquarters: Massachusetts, United States
Annual Revenue: $1 billion+
Competitive Edge: Strong position in advanced packaging
Onto Innovation was formed through the merger of Nanometrics and Rudolph Technologies, combining decades of semiconductor inspection and measurement expertise into one integrated technology provider.
It now focuses on solving yield, performance, and reliability challenges in semiconductor manufacturing by providing equipment and software that help chipmakers monitor fabrication quality.
Its tools are used to measure and analyze semiconductor wafers during production, ensuring that critical dimensions and structures meet exact specifications. These capabilities are becoming increasingly important as the industry shifts toward heterogeneous integration, chiplets, and advanced packaging technologies.
In 2025, Onto Innovation completed a roughly $495 million acquisition of materials analysis product lines from Semilab, strengthening its metrology and process control capabilities. [2]
12. Teradyne
Founded: 1960Headquarters: Massachusetts, United States
Annual Revenue: $3.19 billion+
Competitive Edge: Strong exposure to AI semiconductor growth
Teradyne makes automatic test equipment (ATE), which is used to test semiconductor chips, circuit boards, and electronic systems before they reach the market.
The company operates across two major technology domains: Semiconductor test systems and Robotics (industrial automation and collaborative robots). Its semiconductor test business is the biggest driver, generating hundreds of millions in quarterly revenue from chip-testing equipment alone.
Financially, the company remains strong, with gross margins around 58% and net income of about $554 million in 2025. [3]
That same year, the company invested about $505 million in R&D to advance AI chip testing systems, memory testing platforms, and high-performance computing test solutions.
11. Advantest
V93000｜SoC Test Systems
Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan
Annual Revenue: $2.7 billion+
Competitive Edge: Leadership in automatic test equipment
Advantest makes automatic test equipment (ATE) used to test chips during and after manufacturing. It plays a crucial role in the semiconductor value chain because every chip must be tested before deployment.
Its testing systems are used for System-on-Chip (SoC) testing, Memory testing (DRAM and NAND), RF semiconductor testing, Power semiconductor testing, and AI processor validation.
The company has benefited significantly from AI growth. The complexity of AI chips has increased testing requirements, which has directly increased demand for semiconductor testing equipment.
In 2026, Advantest announced a new R&D facility called the Omiya Tech Hub. It also partnered with Emerson Electric to develop AI-driven test ecosystems.
10. Naura Technology
Founded: 2001Headquarters: Beijing, China
Annual Revenue: $4.6 billion+
Competitive Edge: Strong government backing
Naura Technology is China’s largest semiconductor equipment manufacturer and one of the fastest-growing players in the global semiconductor fabrication equipment market.
It develops equipment used in key semiconductor manufacturing processes, such as plasma etching, physical vapor deposition (PVD), chemical vapor deposition (CVD), wafer cleaning, and annealing systems.
Over the past decade, Naura has become a flagship player in China’s effort to reduce reliance on foreign equipment suppliers. [4]
NAURA is not yet a direct EUV lithography competitor to ASML, but it is increasingly seen as a long-term geopolitical and strategic competitor.
9. ASM International
Headquarters: Almere, Netherlands
Annual Revenue: $3.59 billion+
Competitive Edge: Atomic layer deposition technology
ASM International is focused on advanced deposition technologies, particularly Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD).
This allows chipmakers to deposit materials one atomic layer at a time, enabling extreme control over thickness, uniformity, and composition. This capability is crucial for advanced semiconductor nodes such as 5nm, 3nm, and 2nm technologies, where traditional deposition methods are no longer sufficient.
The company supplies tools used in critical chip-fabrication steps, such as atomic layer deposition, epitaxy, chemical vapor deposition, and thermal processing.
Compared to ASML, which dominates the patterning stage of semiconductor manufacturing, ASMI focuses on building the materials layers that are later patterned. More specifically, ASML defines where structures should be placed, and ASMI enables those structures by depositing ultra-thin material layers.
8. SCREEN Holdings
Founded: 1943Headquarters: Kyoto, Japan
Annual Revenue: $4 billion+
Competitive Edge: Wafer cleaning technology
SCREEN Holdings is an important yet often overlooked player in the semiconductor equipment industry, specializing in wafer-cleaning and surface-preparation technologies.
It develops equipment for semiconductor production, flat-panel display manufacturing, printed circuit board production, and precision manufacturing.
Modern semiconductor manufacturing, in particular, involves hundreds of process steps, and cleaning is required between many of them. For example, a single wafer can undergo 50-100+ cleaning cycles during production.
This high frequency substantially increases demand for SCREEN’s tools, especially as chips become more complex with multi-layer structures, EUV lithography integration, and 3D architectures like NAND stacking.
In 2025, SCREEN set up a semiconductor R&D center in Albany, New York, to strengthen its semiconductor production equipment development. It also signed a 10-year, $75 million research partnership with NY Creates at the Albany NanoTech complex. [5]
7. Hitachi High-Tech
Founded: 1947Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan
Annual Revenue: $4.7 billion+
Competitive Edge: Leadership in electron microscopy and metrology
Hitachi High-Tech specializes in inspection, metrology, and advanced analytical systems that are essential for modern chip manufacturing. It’s a part of the broader Hitachi Group.
It provides tools that help chipmakers measure, analyze, and control processes with extreme precision. These tools are widely used by leading semiconductor companies, including TSMC, Intel, and Samsung Electronics.
Hitachi High-Tech’s core strength lies in its expertise in electron microscopy and measurement technologies, which are crucial for analyzing semiconductor structures at the nanometer and even atomic scales.
It also holds more than 10,500 patents, demonstrating strong engineering capability and technological depth in precision instrumentation and semiconductor metrology.
6. KLA Corporation
Founded: 1976Headquarters: California, United States
Annual Revenue: $12.7 billion+
Competitive Edge: Dominant market share in process control equipment
KLA Corporation dominates the niche, indispensable segment of defect detection and yield management. While companies like ASML focus on patterning chips and others build structures, KLA ensures those processes are executed with near-perfect precision.
At advanced nodes (5nm, 3nm, and beyond), semiconductor manufacturing becomes extraordinarily sensitive to defects. Even a single microscopic imperfection can render a chip unusable.
This is where KLA’s technology becomes essential. Its systems use advanced optics, e-beam technologies, and AI-driven analytics to identify defects at nanometer scales, allowing chipmakers like TSMC and Samsung Electronics to maintain high yields.
KLA commands a dominant 89%+ market share in semiconductor process control and yield management, giving it a near-monopoly in certain inspection and metrology subsegments. This leadership translates into strong financial performance, with gross margins often exceeding 60%. [6]
5. Tokyo Electron
Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan
Annual Revenue: $16 billion+
Competitive Edge: Leader in photoresist coating and developing systems
Tokyo Electron Limited (TEL) is one of the largest and most influential players in advanced semiconductor manufacturing, particularly in logic and memory chips. Its equipment is used extensively by leading chipmakers like TSMC, Samsung Electronics, and Intel.
TEL provides equipment across multiple critical fabrication stages, including Coater/developer systems, plasma etch systems, thermal processing tools, and cleaning systems. This broad portfolio increases revenue stability.
In 2025, the company reported net sales of over $16.04 billion, a staggering 32.7% year-over-year growth, highlighting rising demand for semiconductor equipment driven by AI and advanced computing. [7]
Because of this growth, TEL has become one of the most valuable semiconductor companies in Japan, with a market value of over $110 billion in recent years.
4. Nikon Corporation
Founded: 1917Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan
Annual Revenue: $4.5 billion+
Competitive Edge: Strong presence in mature nodes (28nm & above)
Nikon Corporation is one of the oldest and most technically sophisticated players in the global optics and precision equipment industry. Over the decades, it has evolved into an advanced industrial technology company with a growing focus on semiconductor lithography, industrial metrology, and healthcare technology.
Nikon’s semiconductor business remains strategically critical, particularly in Deep Ultraviolet (DUV) lithography. Its systems are widely used in manufacturing memory chips, logic devices, and image sensors.
More specifically, these systems are important for producing chips at nodes typically ranging from 90nm down to ~28nm, which still represent a substantial share of global semiconductor production. About 45% of Nikon’s revenue now comes from industrial measurement systems and semiconductor lithography equipment. [8]
In the current semiconductor market, ASML leads in EUV lithography (used for advanced chips like 7nm and below), while Nikon focuses on DUV lithography (used for mature and mid-range chips). This creates a segmented rivalry.
Nikon is also developing immersion ArF lithography machines to compete with ASML’s DUV systems and capture additional market share in mature nodes.
3. Lam Research
Headquarters: California, United States
Annual Revenue: $20.5 billion+
Competitive Edge: Leader in plasma etching technology
Lam Research specializes in etching and deposition technologies that are essential for building modern chips. It provides equipment used in plasma etching, thin-film deposition, wafer cleaning, advanced packaging, and semiconductor wiring.
In simple terms, Lam’s tools help chip manufacturers convert chip designs into physical semiconductor devices at nanoscale precision.
The company maintains a strong profitability, with gross margins around 50%, which is very high for industrial equipment companies and reflects the high technological barriers to entry in semiconductor equipment manufacturing.
Looking ahead, the company aims to grow revenue to roughly $25-28 billion by 2028, reflecting continued semiconductor equipment demand. [9]
Both Lam and ASML compete indirectly because semiconductor manufacturers allocate billions across multiple equipment categories, such as lithography, etch, deposition, and inspection. While ASML provides patterning capability, Lam provides etch and deposition steps necessary to complete chip structures.
2. Canon Inc
Founded: 1937Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan
Annual Revenue: $28.9 billion+
Competitive Edge: Cost-efficient lithography alternatives
While Canon is best known for cameras and printers, it is also a large industrial technology provider with businesses spanning semiconductor lithography, medical imaging, industrial equipment, and network cameras.
Canon’s industrial division has become strategically important as semiconductor demand rises due to AI, electric vehicles, and IoT expansion.
In the current market, ASML dominates leading-edge lithography (7nm, 5nm, 3nm, and below) through its EUV systems, where Canon has no direct presence. However, Canon competes in the much larger volume-driven segment of mature-node manufacturing (typically 28nm, 45nm, 65nm, 90nm, and above), where EUV is not required.
This includes chips used in automotive electronics, power management systems, industrial devices, and consumer electronics.
One of Canon’s most interesting technological bets is its development of Nanoimprint Lithography (NIL) — a potential alternative to EUV. Unlike traditional photolithography, NIL physically imprints patterns onto wafers, potentially reducing costs and complexity.
The company claims that NIL systems could achieve resolutions comparable to advanced nodes while being significantly cheaper than EUV machines. [10]
1. Applied Materials
Headquarters: California, United States
Annual Revenue: $28.37 billion+
Competitive Edge: Broadest product portfolio
Applied Materials is one of the largest semiconductor equipment companies worldwide, providing manufacturing equipment, materials engineering solutions, and software used to produce advanced chips.
Its key strength lies in its diversified portfolio: Applied Materials dominates areas like deposition (CVD, PVD, ALD), etching, and chemical mechanical planarization (CMP).
These processes are essential for building layered structures inside chips, especially as the industry transitions to 3D architectures like FinFET and Gate-All-Around (GAA) transistors. In fact, modern chips can contain over 100 layers, substantially increasing the demand for Applied Materials’ tools.
While ASML’s EUV machines define how circuits are patterned onto wafers, Applied Materials’ tools are responsible for building and modifying the materials layers before and after lithography.
As chip geometries shrink below 5nm and toward 2nm, the number of process steps increases dramatically. This trend benefits Applied Materials, as each new node requires more deposition, etch, and materials engineering steps, even if lithography remains dominated by ASML.
Financially, Applied Materials is doing very well. It generated about $28.37 billion in revenue in FY 2025, making its sixth consecutive year of growth. Net income reached $7 billion, showing solid profitability for a capital equipment supplier.
That same year, it spent about $3.57 billion on research and development, supporting areas like atomic layer deposition, advanced packaging, AI chip tools, and next-generation transistor designs. [11]
Read More
- 14 Leading Japanese Semiconductor Companies
- 13 Largest Battery Manufacturers In The World
- 14 Nvidia Competitors and Alternatives
- Electrical Equipment, Semiconductor manufacturing equipment market size and trend analysis, Fortune Business Insights
- News, Acquisition of Electrical Analysis product lines from Semilab International, Onto Innovation
- Press Releases, Teradyne reports Q5 and Full Year 2025 results, Teradyne
- World, China mandates 50% domestic equipment rule for chipmakers, Reuters
- Larry Rulison, The Japanese semiconductor company agrees to a $75 million research deal, Times Union
- KLA, Earnings calls and 2025 full-year results, Yahoo Finance
- Tokyo Electron Ltd, Q4 FY 2025 earnings call transcript, Yahoo Finance
- Report, Nikon’s earnings and long-term vision, Nikon
- Priyanka, Lam Research beats quarterly revenue estimates on surging AI chip demand, Reuters
- John Boyd, Nanoimprint lithography aims to take on EUV, IEEE Spectrum
- Andy Lo, Unlocking next-gen AI chips through advanced materials modification, Applied Materials
