ASML Expands High-NA Partnerships Amid AI Chip Demand

ASML Holding NV ASML is expanding customer collaboration around high numerical aperture (High-NA) extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography as AI-related chip demand raises manufacturing complexity. New work with Samsung and Intel gives the technology a larger role in ASML's next scaling cycle.

The progress is tangible, but commercialization is not uniform. Intel has moved High-NA into production, while broader insertion across Logic and DRAM customers still depends on individual qualification and manufacturing decisions.

ASML Deepens High-NA Partnerships at a Key Moment

On Tuesday, ASML expanded its long-standing partnership with Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. around High-NA EUV and advanced semiconductor manufacturing. The companies plan to accelerate technologies aimed at meeting higher performance and efficiency requirements as AI-related demand grows.

That same day, ASML extended its collaboration with Intel Corporation INTC. Intel has been an early High-NA adopter, and the companies are working on future scaling needs, including larger-format masks that could support increasingly complex chip designs.

ASML's Intel Work Shows High-NA Moving Into Production

High-NA has already helped Intel Foundry in Panther Lake production. Intel also qualified the technology on select 18A product layers, giving ASML a concrete high-volume Logic production milestone rather than another development-stage demonstration.

ASML's second-quarter presentation described the achievement as a new readiness milestone for High-NA. That production use supports the technology's maturity, although one customer's deployment does not establish the timing of adoption across ASML's broader customer base.

ASML's High-NA Metrics Show Technical Progress

Earlier operating data provide another measure of progress. In the first quarter of 2026, the High-NA platform had processed more than 0.5 million wafers and achieved availability above 80%.

Those metrics strengthen the case that the platform is advancing technically. They do not, however, establish a common rollout schedule across Logic and DRAM customers, leaving qualification and manufacturing choices as important variables.

ASML and Samsung Target Next-Generation Scaling

Samsung is joining an industry initiative to develop a 12-inch photomask platform for High-NA EUV. The company also plans to introduce ASML's High-NA technology into future DRAM high-volume manufacturing by 2028, extending the collaboration beyond research work.

The timing fits a broader increase in lithography intensity. ASML expects advanced foundry Logic revenue to rise about 25% in 2026, Memory revenue to increase 75% and EUV revenue to grow about 45% as customers add capacity and adopt more advanced nodes.