Semicon Briefing

SMIC received green light at the Shanghai Stock Exchange (STAR Market) to acquire a Beijing wafer fab valued at 40.6 billion yuan (~$5.97 billion) – the largest M&A deal in China's foundry sector of all time. The move significantly strengthens China's self-sufficiency in mature process technology, particularly as US export controls cut off access to Western equipment.

Tower Semiconductor (TSEM) signed a long-term silicon photonics contract worth $1.3 billion on May 13, 2026 and received an advance payment of $290 million; the company is targeting SiPho revenue of $2.8 billion by 2028. The deal signals that optical interconnects for AI data centers are becoming the next major semiconductor growth field.

Lattice Semiconductor signed a merger agreement to acquire AMI in a cash-and-stock transaction of approximately $1.65 billion; closing is expected in Q3 2026. The acquisition expands Lattice's portfolio in embedded firmware and security solutions and strengthens its position in the embedded systems market.

Indie Semiconductor acquires the fabless CMOS image sensor group from ams OSRAM for €40 million – a direct result of ams OSRAM's strategic pivot to pure optics initiated in February 2026. For Indie, this significantly strengthens its automotive sensing pipeline, while ams OSRAM accelerates its debt reduction.

The revised EU Chips Act (Chips Act II), whose formal draft is expected by end of May, will allow the European Commission to invest directly in cross-border fab projects – rather than funding only nationally as before. The move is intended to accelerate stalled projects and narrow Europe's gap versus the US CHIPS Act ($280 billion).

Quantum Computing Inc. (QUBT) reported Q1 2026 revenue of $3.7 million versus $39,000 in the prior year – a gain of 9,367% – driven entirely by the acquisitions of Luminar Semiconductor ($110 million, closed Feb. 2026) and NuCrypt ($5 million, closed March 2026). The jump illustrates how quantum computing firms are rapidly building semiconductor manufacturing capabilities through M&A to move beyond the pure research phase.