According to the latest 2007 semiconductor equipment supplier rankings from VLSI Research, ASML has been strengthening its position as the number one lithography supplier, by revenue, in recent years. 

Both Nikon and ASML have seen revenues increase year-on-year. However, in 2004, ASML had revenues of $3.074 billion - just over double the revenues of Nikon ($1.411 billion), then ranked third largest lithography supplier. The gap between the top two lithography equipment suppliers is now approximately 2.4X.

Some of the gains realised by both equipment companies have been at the expense of Canon. The linear trend line shows a marked decline for Canon’s lithography revenues from 2004 through 2007. However, Canon’s actual revenues reached a low point in 2005 and have been gradually improving since, reaching $1.309 billion in 2007, compared to $1.088 billion in 2005.

A key reason for ASML’s strengthening revenues has been its leadership in 193ArF tool sales - both wet- and dry-based platforms - in recent years. This has also been compounded by exchange rates between the Yen and the U.S. dollar.