Semicon Briefing

The USA has concluded an unusual agreement that provides for a 15 percent revenue share on Nvidia and AMD chip sales to China – a novel geopolitical trade model. This marks a fundamental shift away from binary export bans toward control-through-participation and could serve as a blueprint for future tech trade agreements.

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are making large-scale capacity investments in their Chinese facilities despite existing US export restrictions to respond to global memory shortages. This escalates the conflict with US policy and shows that Korean manufacturers prioritize economic pressure over geopolitical considerations.

Samsung's 2nm GAA yield has risen to over 60% according to industry sources (H2 2025: ~20%) – driven primarily by Tesla's $16.5 billion order for AI chips. This yield recovery is crucial for whether Samsung can seriously challenge TSMC as the preferred foundry partner.

Normal Computing, an AI startup for the semiconductor industry, has closed a strategic funding round of $50 million led by Samsung Catalyst – total capital rises to over $85 million. The investment signals Samsung's strategic interest in directly controlling AI-driven chip design tools.

The pending sale of ams-OSRAM's non-optical sensor business to Infineon for €570 million is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026 and represents the final major step in the debt reduction program. For Infineon, this means targeted strengthening in the analog sensor segment and increases competitive pressure on NXP in the automotive sector.

European policymakers and industry representatives are calling for a fundamental realignment of the EU Chips Act 2.0 away from subsidizing individual fabs toward strengthening the entire semiconductor ecosystem with economically viable capacity. Time pressure has decreased following the easing of acute shortages, but Europe's structural weaknesses in the value chain remain unresolved.