“We will out-develop them all”

LEAD

While Philips decimated its R&D, ASML made research, development and engineering the driving force within its organization.

At its inception in 1984, ASML was little more than a failed Philips division. Having the stepper business under its wing, ASM International had the illusion that it could take the world by storm with the lithography machines from Eindhoven. That proved a miscalculation. Philips’ contribution basically consisted of unsellable machines. No customer was interested.