Semicon Briefing

Trump announced on Truth Social that Apple will cooperate with Intel to design and manufacture chips in the US – Intel's stock subsequently jumped around 10% to a record high. The alliance significantly increases pressure on TSMC and Samsung and marks a new phase of state-backed US chip onshoring strategy.

X-FAB Silicon Foundries officially received €127.4 million from the European Chips Act on June 23, 2026 for the Fab4Micro project in Erfurt – equivalent to over 10% of current market capitalization. MEMS and photonics manufacturing is scheduled to start in 2028 and represents a concrete step for Europe from subsidy announcements to actual capital disbursement.

According to reports, AMD is holding active discussions with Samsung Foundry to manufacture a portion of its future chips there, thereby relieving TSMC's strained capacity for cutting-edge wafers. This would further accelerate Samsung Foundry's recovery and structurally limit TSMC's pricing power.

Quantum Computing Inc. ($QUBT) signed and closed the acquisition of NHanced Semiconductors for $73.1 million (cash + shares) on June 22, 2026 – with up to $72 million earnout. The deal strengthens US manufacturing capacity for photonics and quantum computing hardware.

In response to US measures, China sanctioned US defense and rare earth firms and added them to export control and government procurement lists – an escalating counterattack with direct relevance to the global semiconductor and defense supply chain. The rare earth aspect particularly impacts critical precursors for chip manufacturing and weapons systems.

The planned sale of ams-OSRAM's non-optical sensor business to Infineon for €570 million remains stalled in review by the German Federal Cartel Office – ams-OSRAM stock subsequently lost 6.4%. This is a significant new development compared to the original deal announcement, as the Q2 2026 close is now at risk of collapsing.