Canon is gearing up to begin shipping its new nanoimprint lithography chipmaking machines, possibly this year. The equipment — which uses a stamping process Canon says will be cheaper and more energy-efficient than ASML’s light-based extreme ultraviolet (EUV) technology — could be a disruptor in a market dominated by the Dutch company. Such machines, essential in manufacturing semiconductors, imprint circuitry onto silicon wafers in patterns that can be thousands of times thinner than the width of a human hair. Foundries TSMC, Samsung Semiconductor and Intel rely on ASML’s EUV machines in the manufacture of high-end chips.

Japanese giants Canon and Nikon have been producing deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography machines, used to create less advanced processors. Canon hopes its new nanoimprint lithography (NIL) system will eventually change that. Its strategy, according to Financial Times, is to “carve out a niche — focusing first on 3D NAND memory chips rather than more complex microprocessors,” starting with a 5-nanometer process and working toward a goal of 2nm.

“First unveiled in mid-October, Canon’s nanoimprint lithography — a technology under development for more than 15 years but which the company says is only now commercially viable — stamps chip designs on to silicon wafers rather than etching them using light,” Financial Times writes.

Though Canon hasn’t disclosed pricing, ASML’s EUV machines sell for “more than $150 million each,” according to FT, which calls them “the most expensive part” of the semiconductor manufacturing process, quoting Canon saying its nanoimprint process “will be ‘one digit’ cheaper and use up to 90 percent less power.”

Reuters says ASML “has become Europe’s most valuable tech company.” Hurdles to Canon include U.S. sanctions against China that prohibit partner countries from selling certain advanced technologies to the PRC. This affects both Japan and the Netherlands, eliminating a large potential customer.

However, new foundries resulting from the U.S. CHIPS Act and a similar EU’s initiative could bode well for Canon.

The first deliveries will be for “trial periods, with Canon having to convince customers that the effort of integrating the new machines into existing fabrication plants is worthwhile,” per Ars Technica.

Another big challenge for Canon is “increasing its success rate in achieving greater levels of miniaturization” from 5nm to 2nm. Taiwan’s TSMC is commercially producing 3mn chips (currently found in the iPhone 15 Pro). Most companies are targeting 2025 for 3nm though IEEE Spectrum reports that Intel hopes to leapfrog the 3nm competition with a proprietary process called 20A in the first half of this year.