Semicon Briefing

TSMC and Amkor Technology have signed a 10-year contract for advanced packaging and testing at Amkor's Arizona facility. The deal anchors critical packaging-bottleneck infrastructure for AI chips permanently in the US and structurally strengthens the US semiconductor value chain.

Infineon has opened its €5 billion fab for power semiconductors in Dresden – the first major project under the EU Chips Act, supported by approximately €1 billion in EU subsidies. The facility produces power chips for AI data centers, electric vehicles, and renewable energy and marks Europe's first concrete step toward semiconductor sovereignty.

China has restricted tungsten exports, a metal indispensable for chip manufacturing, hitting TSMC, Samsung, and SK Hynix hard. South Korea is reactivating its own tungsten mine as a countermeasure with estimated reserves of 7 million tons, but near-term price increases and supply chain risks loom.

Intel has begun risk production of its most advanced chip node, 18A-P, bringing it significantly closer to a potential foundry deal with Apple. If the Apple contract succeeds, it would be Intel's most important external foundry milestone and a turning point for the company's restructuring.

Coherent Corp. has signed a letter of intent for up to 50 million USD from the CHIPS Act to massively expand its indium phosphide wafer production in Sherman, Texas – production area will double, capacity will quadruple. The photonics fab is central to AI network infrastructure and signals the broadening of US funding to niche technologies.

Leading investors and analysts intensely debate whether US chip export controls strengthen rather than weaken China long-term: Huawei's Ascend line and 40% domestic supply share show that isolation accelerates Chinese indigenous development. China's 143 billion dollar investment plan to circumvent export restrictions and the certification of 9 domestic chips for government procurement strengthen the picture of permanent technological decoupling.