Christophe Fouquet

Christophe Fouquet became CEO of ASML in April 2024, succeeding Peter Wennink who held the role for over a decade. His first full year in the role has been defined by the structural shift in ASML's China business driven by tightening US export controls on DUV (Deep Ultraviolet) lithography machines. In Q1 2026, ASML reported that China's share of system sales fell to 19 per cent from 36 per cent in Q4 2025, a drop of roughly €1.8bn in a single quarter. Fouquet stated publicly that 2026 guidance "accommodates potential outcomes of ongoing discussions around export controls".

ASML is headquartered in Veldhoven, Netherlands, and is the world's sole manufacturer of EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet) lithography machines, which cannot be legally sold to China under current restrictions. Mature-node DUV tools can be sold to China under existing rules, but a bipartisan US bill proposed in the week following ASML's Q1 results sought to tighten those restrictions further. ASML raised full-year 2026 guidance to €36-40bn despite the China headwinds; its stock fell 6 per cent on the day of the results.

Fouquet has become the public face of European semiconductor industry's exposure to an export-control regime set in Washington rather than Brussels. His guidance language signals ASML is planning for further restrictions without being able to predict their timing or scope. European semiconductor R&D has been cross-subsidised for years by Chinese DUV revenue; Fouquet's first years as CEO are likely to involve navigating the thinning of that subsidy.