---
id: "entity-asml"
type: "entity"
source_timestamps: ["§ The Commitment Paradox"]
tags: ["semiconductors", "lithography", "focused-firm"]
related: ["entity-nikon"]
entityType: "organization"
canonicalName: "ASML"
aliases: ["ASML Holding"]
sources: ["tail1"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-tail1"
originDay: 1
articleStem: "hbr-tail-116-winner-take-all-diversification"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/04/in-winner-take-all-markets-diversification-is-a-liability"
sourceTitle: "In Winner-Take-All Markets, Diversification Is a Liability"
---
# ASML

## ASML

**Type:** focused firm — a **success story** of focus beating diversification.

A Dutch company specializing in semiconductor **lithography** systems, ASML conquered the lithography market in the 1990s and eventually became the leading supplier of machines (now dominant in EUV lithography) crucial to the AI revolution. Its success is attributed to its **laser-like focus**, which let it outcompete the diversified incumbent [[entity-nikon]] — a clean instantiation of the [[concept-commitment-paradox]].

**Enrichment caveat:** ASML's rise is widely covered, but no single causal study ties its win *solely* to focus vs. Nikon's diversification; product quality, timing, and the EUV technology bet also mattered. Use as illustration, not proof.