Semicon Briefing

ASML beats Q2 expectations and raises annual guidance to €43–45 billion – driven by AI demand and full order books. Simultaneously, the company announces plans to expand EUV and DUV capacity by 30% within two years, which dampens concerns about bottlenecks in the AI chip supply chain.

Intel Foundry has become the first customer to move ASML's High-NA EUV lithography into production for the 18A process node – an industry first. This strengthens Intel's positioning in foundry competition against TSMC and Samsung and signals that customer roadmaps are now synchronized with ASML's next generation of equipment.

The European Commission has approved state aid of €659 million for four new German semiconductor facilities intended to produce silicon carbide epitaxial wafers, power MOSFETs, and specialty detectors. The move underscores Europe's determination to achieve a 20% global market share by 2030 under the EU Chips Act.

Infineon has opened its largest facility to date in Dresden, supported by €1 billion from the EU Chips Act, thereby doubling its Dresden capacity for power semiconductors and analog chips. The project is regarded as Europe's answer to Asian dominance in power semiconductor manufacturing and strengthens the EU's supply chain sovereignty.

Diodes Incorporated has completed the acquisition of ElevATE Semiconductor in a $250 million all-cash transaction, expanding its analog and mixed-signal portfolio. The acquisition is part of a broad M&A wave in the semiconductor sector, driven by AI-driven demand for specialized chips.

Moonshots' Kimi K3 delivers comparable frontier AI performance at 40% lower cost than US models according to analysts, triggering a sell-off in the semiconductor sector – the SOX Index lost 5.7% in a single day. Market participants are questioning whether the scarcity premium in chip valuations is sustainable if China builds competitive models without US silicon.