At the "Winning the AI Race" summit in Washington, President Donald Trump revealed he once considered breaking up Nvidia to spur competition in the US artificial intelligence (AI) chip sector. Trump later acknowledged that he abandoned the idea after realizing Nvidia's technological dominance and the complexity of the chipmaking landscape. Industry insiders, however, argue the real candidate for government intervention isn't Nvidia — it's Intel.
Renesas Electronics posted a net loss of JPY175.3 billion (approx. US$1.19 billion) in the first half of 2025, swinging from a JPY139.5 billion profit a year earlier. It was the Japanese chipmaker's first-half net loss in five years.
Qualcomm is reportedly weighing a return to Samsung Foundry for its 2nm flagship smartphone SoCs in 2026, raising questions about a potential pivot from TSMC. Yet conflicting reports claim Samsung has already been removed from Qualcomm's approved foundry list, adding to the uncertainty.
Intel posted a wider-than-expected quarterly loss after incurring nearly US$3 billion in restructuring and impairment charges, underscoring the high financial cost of its ongoing turnaround effort. The chipmaker raised alarm bells by warning it may exit advanced node development altogether if it fails to attract sufficient external foundry customers for its next-generation 14A process.
Alphabet has raised its 2025 capital expenditure to US$85 billion from US$75 billion as technology companies accelerate artificial intelligence infrastructure investments despite uncertain returns, with server manufacturers including Quanta and Foxconn poised to benefit.
Intel will cut around 21,000 jobs by the end of 2025 and suspend wafer fab construction projects in Europe, as part of a sweeping cost-reduction and restructuring effort, according to Bloomberg and Yonhap News Agency.
ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet tempered the company's solid second quarter 2025 results with a warning: growth in 2026 is far from guaranteed. "While we still prepare for growth in 2026, we cannot confirm it at this stage," he said on the earnings call, prompting renewed scrutiny of end-market demand and chipmakers' appetite for capital equipment.
Amid tightening US and Dutch export controls on advanced semiconductor equipment, especially ASML's extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography systems, China's Tsinghua University has announced a breakthrough in a critical material: EUV photoresist.
Rapidus is developing an innovative semiconductor production system designed to significantly speed up the manufacturing process of 2nm and sub-2nm chips by combining wafer fabrication and packaging into a single, streamlined operation.
As US–China tech tensions escalate, semiconductors have become the focal point in a broader race for technological sovereignty. Three obscure yet strategically vital wafer foundries, Shenzhen Pengxin Micro Semiconductor Technology (Pengxin Micro), SwaySure Technology, and Shenzhen Pensun Technology (Pensun), have emerged as key players in China's response.
Sony is actively seeking to sell its subsidiary Sony Semiconductor Israel, which specializes in mobile chipsets for connected devices, according to reports from multiple media.
Business exchanges between Chinese and Taiwanese makers have shown significant increases amid concerns over US tariffs, trade restrictions, and global supply chain restructuring, with China and Hong Kong together remaining the biggest market for Taiwan's exports.
TSMC has continued to accelerate its development of sub-2nm processes despite market expectations that clients would turn cautious with their 2nm orders, given the quote for the process is as steep as US$30,000, since demand has remained robust. After mass production begins in the second half of 2025, monthly capacity is expected to hit 40,000 units and will soar further to 200,000 units by 2028.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. Chief Executive Officer Lisa Su said that the chips her company gets from supplier Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. cost more when they're produced in TSMC's Arizona facilities.
Taiwan continues to dominate the global outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) market, but China is catching up quickly. Driven by state-backed chip self-reliance efforts, China's OSAT industry has expanded at pace, steadily closing the market share gap across the Taiwan Strait. A recent industry-led initiative gaining traction in China is also pushing back against cutthroat pricing that has undermined profitability.
Bosch plans to restructure its Reutlingen manufacturing site in Germany, with up to 1,100 jobs set to be cut as part of a broader cost-cutting initiative. The company cited shifting market dynamics and the need to stay competitive.
Ørsted announced that the first turbine of the Greater Changhua 2b and 4 offshore wind farms has successfully connected to Taipower's grid and begun generating electricity. This 920 MW project represents a groundbreaking achievement as the world's first offshore wind farm specifically designed to supply green electricity to TSMC.
Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (PSMC) reported a steeper net loss in the second quarter of 2025, as a stronger New Taiwan dollar and weakening wafer average selling prices (ASPs) continued to weigh on performance. The contract chipmaker posted a net loss of NT$3.33 billion (US$103 million), marking its eighth consecutive quarterly loss, despite contributions from a technology licensing deal with India's Tata Group.
Samsung Electronics plans to begin mass production of its 2nm semiconductor process in the second half of 2025. Although reports indicate that Samsung is currently trailing TSMC in yield rates, the company is reportedly identifying solutions to improve performance.
Taiwan's export orders for advanced process semiconductors and AI servers continued to perform well in June 2025, despite ongoing uncertainties with US trade policy and geopolitical risks.
Texas Instruments (TI) signaled a more moderate third-quarter outlook, with CEO Haviv Ilan citing easing tariff-related demand and ongoing geopolitical uncertainty. While earlier inventory-driven orders spurred growth, the company now expects more typical seasonal patterns. TI emphasized its long-term US manufacturing investments as a strategic hedge amid shifting global supply chains.
MediaTek and Broadcom continue to compete for Meta's new application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) projects, with industry insiders stressing that both companies are performing at a comparable level. However, recent reports suggest that MediaTek is poised to secure a major order for one of Meta's upcoming 2nm process ASICs, codenamed "Arke," which focuses on post-training and inference functions, potentially moving toward mass production in the first half of 2027.
During its second-quarter 2025 earnings call, Texas Instruments (TI) underscored the pivotal role China played in driving the company's industrial segment growth.
