The Tower Semiconductor example is particularly instructiv here. Its interesting how China used procedural delays as a de facto veto without ever formally rejecting the deal. Tower would have given Intel exactly what it needed for its foundry ambitions, especialy in analog and specialty processes. The timing was brutal too, because Intel really needed Tower's customer service culture and external PDK capabilities to compete with TSMC and Samsung. Now Intel has to build those capabilities organicaly, which takes years they dont really have. The geopolitical chess game is making it nearly impossible for Western semiconductor companies to fill strategic gaps through acquisitions.
The Tower Semiconductor example is particularly instructiv here. Its interesting how China used procedural delays as a de facto veto without ever formally rejecting the deal. Tower would have given Intel exactly what it needed for its foundry ambitions, especialy in analog and specialty processes. The timing was brutal too, because Intel really needed Tower's customer service culture and external PDK capabilities to compete with TSMC and Samsung. Now Intel has to build those capabilities organicaly, which takes years they dont really have. The geopolitical chess game is making it nearly impossible for Western semiconductor companies to fill strategic gaps through acquisitions.