Executive Summary

  • For the first time in history, ASML’s revenue from memory systems surpassed that of logic chips in 1Q 2026. This paradigm shift is driven by the AI-fueled arms race for High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), compelling DRAM makers to aggressively adopt EUV lithography.

Strategic Deep-Dive

In a landmark financial report for 1Q 2026, ASML confirmed that memory systems have officially overtaken logic chips as its primary revenue driver. This historic inversion signals a fundamental change in semiconductor Capex structures. Historically, EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet) lithography was the exclusive domain of logic foundries like TSMC for leading-edge nodes.

However, the rise of HBM3E and HBM4 standards has forced DRAM manufacturers—Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron—to integrate EUV into their production lines to meet the stringent density and power requirements of AI accelerators. This shift underscores the “HBM-First” era, where the memory bottleneck in AI training has turned memory hardware into a high-margin, leading-edge product category that rivals the technical complexity of advanced CPUs and GPUs.