ASML reports heated global demand in 2025, but cools China outlook amid US sanctions

The financial head of Dutch chipmaking equipment giant ASML – following a year of double-digit sales growth for the company’s machines – said he expects the firm’s already declining sales to China to fall even further, as trade restrictions prevent shipments of the firm’s most advanced units to Chinese clients and demand for other models is likely to taper off after an earlier rush.China’s share of ASML’s global sales dropped by 8 percentage points in 2025, falling to 33 per cent from the 41 per cent reported the previous year. The group’s CFO, Roger Dassen, said he expected the figure to drop to around 20 per cent in 2026.Sales of its deep ultraviolet lithography (DUV) machines – the models which produce less advanced chips and can still be sold to Chinese buyers – decreased by 6 per cent in 2025 to €12 billion (US$14.36 billion), mainly due to a decline in the Chinese market, Dassen said. The company said it expected a “normalisation” of demand in 2026, following a rush of shipments made after Beijing lifted its Covid-19 restrictions.However, the group’s total net machine sales increased to €24.47 billion, up by 12.4 per cent year on year, thanks to the strong performance of its extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) machines. Sales of the top-end models, which can be sold in Europe and the US but cannot be shipped to China under US sanctions, rose 39 per cent to €11.6 billion year on year, according to the group’s 2025 financial report.The company saw particularly strong demand for its EUV machines during the last quarter of 2025, fuelled largely by the artificial intelligence boom, and group CEO Christophe Fouquet said he expected that trend to continue into 2026.ASML reported €13.2 billion in bookings during the last quarter, up 186 per cent year on year, €7.4 billion of which was for the advanced EUV systems.