Recently, the Japanese optical behemoth Nikon released a performance warning for the fiscal year 2025, forecasting a staggering loss of 85 billion yen—a figure that represents its worst performance in a century. Its core photolithography equipment business has suffered a comprehensive collapse, with only 9 shipments of mature-process legacy equipment recorded in the past six months, indicating a complete loss of its foothold in the high-end market. In stark contrast, Dutch company ASML dispatched 327 photolithography machines during the same timeframe, including 48 high-end EUV photolithography machines, thereby solidifying its dominance in the global high-end market. Nikon's decline can be attributed to technical missteps, conservative strategic choices, and a failure to keep pace with market transformations. Moreover, its current predicament also mirrors the broader downturn of Japan's semiconductor equipment industry.