Nikon weaponizes lower prices to break ASML's lithography monopoly — tech giant leverages in-house manufacturing to slash prices to lure back American chipmakers

Tech Industry Nikon weaponizes lower prices to break ASML's lithography monopoly — tech giant leverages in-house manufacturing to slash prices to lure back American chipmakers News By Luke James published 30 May 2026 New CEO says in-house parts give a cost edge. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works . (Image credit: ASML) Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Nikon will try to win back lithography customers by selling argon fluoride (ArF) tools for less than market leader ASML, the company's new president and chief executive, Yasuhiro Ohmura, told Nikkei Asia in a recent interview. Ohmura, who took the role in April, said Nikon is talking to several large chipmakers in the U.S. and Asia about fresh ArF orders, with discussions "nearing purchase orders." Go deeper with TH Premium: CPU (Image credit: Tom's Hardware) CPU scaling with DLSS Ryzen to the top: How AMD innovated in the gaming CPU market How ARM is working its way into PCs AMD CES 2026 gaming trends press Q&A roundtable transcript Nikon’s pitch to customers comes after a brutal stretch for the business: Nikon shipped 11 ArF systems in its fiscal year ending March 2024 and none across the first three quarters of its 2025 fiscal year, according to company figures reported by TrendForce , against ASML's grip on more than 80% of the lithography market. Competing on price like this targets a segment of the market that ASML doesn’t outright dominate. While it holds an obvious monopoly position on extreme ultraviolet (EUV) systems used for the most advanced chipmaking processes, ArF immersion is a type of mature deep ultraviolet (DUV) work, and the majority of patterning steps, even on a 3nm chip, still run on it. ASML's advanced ArF immersion machines average around $82.