Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by shaism 897 days ago
ASML has awesome tech, and the European engineering deep tech supply chain has always been great. Look at the deep supply chains for automotive.

However, the comparison with Silicon Valley is superficial. Silicon Valley is an absolute powerhouse across the technology spectrum but particularly on the software side, and has repeatedly for decades churn out innovative companies. While the article calls ASML “digital”, based on my experience working with ASML, their unique strengths is system integration, not software.

And while there is plenty of scientific talent in Europe, which for semiconductor is somewhat clustered around Eindhoven thanks to ASML, the talent and capital density + culture of Silicon Valley is still unrivaled.

2 comments

> clustered around Eindhoven

Also Leuven, althouth IMEC is a research facility unlike ASML.

> clustered around Eindhoven thanks to ASML

No, clustered around Eindhoven due to the former Philips Natlab [1,2] (Natuurkundig Laboratorium or 'Physics Laboratory') which served as an incubator for many new technologies. The company which is now ASML got its start there as well.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philips_Natuurkundig_Laborator...

[2] https://innovationorigins.com/en/laio/philips-natlab-closes-...