1. Juli 2026 · 03:48 Uhr
Samsung has officially restarted its 1.4nm development roadmap and is targeting mass production in 2029 to close the gap with TSMC and Intel. Notable: TSMC plans to skip ASML's High-NA-EUV tools for its own 1.4nm node – a strategically significant difference in the technology paths of both fierce rivals.
Intel has broken ground on a new manufacturing facility in Santa Clara, while reports of an Apple-Intel foundry alliance backed by the White House are capturing industry attention. This increases pressure on Samsung and TSMC, which are simultaneously building US capacity, and could accelerate Intel's foundry comeback.
Applied Materials CEO Gary Dickerson raised the growth forecast for the equipment business in 2026 to over 30% (previously >20%), while ASML investors have already achieved 200% returns since the April 2025 dip. The figures underscore that the boom in chip equipment is structural – driven by simultaneous capacity expansion in South Korea, the US, and Europe.
The draft Chips Act 2.0 reverses the funding strategy: instead of primarily fab subsidies, mandatory demand for European chips in government and critical applications will drive production going forward. The new approach – termed Silicon-to-Systems – is also to include defense and military electronics and reduce strategic dependence on Asia.
New details on the South Korean chip plan flesh out previously reported figures: 800 trillion won (approx. $520B) will flow into four new fabs and dedicated HBM facilities; the government aims to accelerate approval processes and advance construction timelines. The plan is significantly more concrete than the headline figures known so far and directly addresses structural HBM supply shortages.
A new independent report concludes that US export controls did not slow China but instead drove it to build its own independent semiconductor supply chain – Huawei's chairman officially thanked Washington for this effect. Meanwhile, the US continues to tighten rules, while China places 10 US companies on its own export control list, with mutual escalation reaching new peaks.
The global semiconductor industry is in a phase of unprecedented capacity expansion, fueled simultaneously by competing government programs in South Korea, the US, and the EU – with cumulative announcements in the trillion-dollar range this week alone. Technologically, rivalry between Samsung and TSMC is intensifying at the 1.4nm node, while Intel, backed by the White House and with Apple as a potential foundry anchor, enters the battle for orders. According to independent analyses, US export control policy toward China shows counterproductive effects: China has used sanctions as a catalyst for its own supply chains and is escalating with countermeasures, accelerating geopolitical fragmentation of chip supply. For equipment makers like ASML and Applied Materials, simultaneous capacity expansion across multiple regions worldwide means a structural demand boom – yet the risk of future overcapacity grows if AI demand fails to meet current investment expectations.
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