ASML (NASDAQ: ASML) was founded nearly four decades ago, and it gradually evolved into a linchpin of the global chip market. The Dutch semiconductor equipment maker is currently the world's largest manufacturer of lithography systems, which semiconductor manufacturers use to etch circuit patterns onto silicon wafers.

It's also the world's only producer of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography systems, which are required to produce the world's smallest and densest chips. It doesn't face any competitors because ASML perfected its EUV technology over the past three decades, its systems cost about $200 million each and require multiple planes to ship, and the top foundries -- including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, Samsung, and Intel -- all use its EUV systems.

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Source Fool.com