🔬Semicon Briefing
July 5, 2026 · 03:48 Uhr
1Samsung & SK Hynix: $870 billion capacity expansion approved
r/Amd_Intel_Nvidia / cloudnews.tech Samsung and SK Hynix have adopted a joint plan worth $870 billion for massive expansion of their semiconductor manufacturing capacity – with direct order surges for equipment suppliers like ASML, Applied Materials, and Lam Research. Analysts expect the memory upcycle wave to sweep across all equipment segments from lithography to advanced packaging, driving ASML and AMAT shares to record highs.
2Samsung 1.4-nm comeback: mass production planned for 2029
TrendForce / r/Amd_Intel_Nvidia Samsung has reactivated its 1.4-nm process node and is targeting mass production for 2029 – notably without ASML's High-NA EUV tools, which TSMC also plans to skip by then. The move signals genuine three-way competition between Samsung, TSMC, and Intel at the bleeding edge and increases pressure on all foundry customers regarding partner selection and roadmap planning.
3China builds $210 million diamond semiconductor supply chain
Interesting Engineering China has launched a state-funded $210 million project to establish the first integrated industrial chain for fourth-generation diamond semiconductor materials – a strategic response to Western export controls on silicon-based manufacturing technologies. If successful, China could establish an alternative technology path in the medium term that partially circumvents Western embargoes.
4TSMC, ASML & imec: 2D transistors on 300-mm wafers for the first time
Digitimes / TechPowerUp At the IEEE/JSAP Symposium 2026, TSMC, ASML, and imec presented an industry-ready 300-mm integration process for 2D-material transistors with 50-nm contact poly pitch – a milestone on the path beyond silicon. The collaboration demonstrates how closely the three key players in the global chip roadmap are already working toward post-silicon technologies.
5Applied Materials: equipment growth in 2026 raised to over 30%
24/7 Wall St. AMAT CEO Gary Dickerson has raised the growth forecast for the equipment business in 2026 from over 20% to over 30% – driven by the memory upcycle wave and simultaneous capacity expansion in Korea, Taiwan, and the US. Combined with South Korean mega-investments, Applied Materials is positioning itself as one of the largest structural beneficiaries of the ongoing AI infrastructure boom.
6China tightens countermeasures: new export controls against US firms
Arnold & Porter / Al Jazeera China's MOFCOM has placed 10 US companies on the export control list and excluded 46 others from government procurement procedures – as a direct response to the latest US expansion of the 1260H list and new chip export restrictions. The escalation spiral of mutual controls significantly increases uncertainty for globally operating semiconductor and supplier companies.
Situation Report
In early July 2026, the semiconductor industry is in a phase of simultaneous technological buildup and geopolitical escalation: While Samsung, SK Hynix, and TSMC are intensifying competition at the bleeding edge with historic capacity investments and new process node announcements, China is responding with targeted countermeasures to Western export controls and investing in parallel in alternative material technologies such as diamond semiconductors. The US-China export control escalation spiral – with new blacklistings on both sides and only a 10% Polymarket probability of a tariff agreement by end of July – increases the risk of permanent technological bifurcation of the global supply chain. Equipment suppliers such as ASML and Applied Materials are profiting massively in the short term from the investment waves, but face increasing regulatory restrictions on their China business in the medium term, which historically accounted for 20–30% of revenue.
Tokens: 2,352(1,435 in · 917 out)
