Zeiss expands Oberkochen site as ASML's EUV bottleneck lingers

Zeiss Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology completed the first building of a major facility expansion at Oberkochen, Germany, four years after groundbreaking in 2022, adding ~25,000 square meters of production and production-adjacent space. Remaining buildings will hand over in stages. Zeiss and its Wetzlar plant are the only two facilities in the world capable of manufacturing the precision optical columns inside ASML's EUV lithography scanners—the critical chokepoint constraining High-NA EUV output.

ASML purchased €4.41 billion from Zeiss SMT in 2025, up from €3.95 billion in 2024 and €3.33 billion in 2023. ASML's 2025 annual report states plainly that if Zeiss sustained production losses, "ASML would effectively cease to be able to conduct our business." ASML signaled plans to raise Low-NA EUV output by roughly 30% in 2027 from ~65 systems in 2026, and is evaluating another 30% increase for 2028. The company is also compressing scanner build cycles from ~22 weeks to 15–16 weeks.

For AI infrastructure teams: Zeiss's capex expansion signals the industry recognizes EUV supply will remain constrained through 2027–2028. High-NA optics alone contain 40,000+ parts, each machined for months, making the expansion a multi-year bet on sustained demand. ASML holds €5.29 billion in loans to Zeiss (€1.91B in receivables plus advance payments) and has structured them interest-free with flexible repayment, underscoring the critical, symbiotic nature of the optical-supply relationship at the heart of global chip manufacturing.