Semiconductor M&A Heats Up Early in 2026: More to Come?
February 04, 2026
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The semiconductor industry is starting to look like it’s due for big changes.
Many of you have seen the huge news that TI has entered into an agreement to acquire Silicon Labs for about $7.5 Billion in cash, which we reported here.
This is the biggest, but only the latest recent M&A activity in the semiconductor space. Also, on Feb 4, Siemens announced the acquisition of Canopus AI, a computational and AI-driven metrology solutions provider, with the stated intention of offering semiconductor manufacturers the ability to “achieve new levels of precision and efficiency in wafer and mask inspection processes,” according to the release.
There’s still more, just in 2026. A few weeks previous, GlobalFoundries agreed to acquire the ARC Processor IP Solutions business from Synopsys. That deal included the ARC-V, ARC-Classic, ARC VPX-DSP and ARC NPX NPU product lines, and the ASIP Designer and ASIP Programmer tools. Along with the IP, GlobalFoundries also brought the assets and engineering teams on board, and the company said in the release that upon closing, the assets and teams will be integrated with MIPS, a GlobalFoundries company. The resulting processor IP suite will reportedly be tailored for physical AI applications.
The last example I’ll point to is the Jan 26 announcement that, within a slate of recent acquisitions, IonQ, a major quantum computing company, will acquire SkyWater Technology, a major U.S.-based semiconductor foundry, for about $1.8 billion.
What does all this activity mean? Well, it could mean many things, but in my experience, a slate of big acquisitions in a narrow industry can point to a variety of things. Supply chain uncertainty (we’ve certainly seen that), expectations for future market growth (I don’t think I need to tell you that AI+Embedded+Edge+IoT are all going to equal more semiconductors, everywhere from the data center to the edge), market maturity leading to vertical integration (I’m not sure we’re there yet – ask me about my thoughts on the AI bubble), or most commonly, some mixture of them.
I’m not saying that those are the only reasons for these moves, or even that there’s necessarily a trend, but it’s a sign.
At the same time that demand for semiconductors is exploding, the capabilities are also being pushed to the limits of the physics. Meanwhile, the industry is facing manufacturing challenges trying to meet these demands, while shrinking device geometries and increasing functions. Fabrication has always been hard, and it’s getting harder.
With all this said, what conclusions can we draw? Not sure. But I’m going to be watching and so should you, because this isn’t all the activity, but if 2026 continues this way, the semiconductor industry is going to be substantially different in 12 months than it is now.
And that will be big news indeed.
I expect there will be a lot of talk about this at embedded world in Nuremburg, Germany next month, and you can bet I'll be paying attention. Keep your eyes here for anything I dig up.
Ken Briodagh is a writer and editor with two decades of experience under his belt. He is in love with technology and if he had his druthers, he would beta test everything from shoe phones to flying cars. In previous lives, he’s been a short order cook, telemarketer, medical supply technician, mover of the bodies at a funeral home, pirate, poet, partial alliterist, parent, partner and pretender to various thrones. Most of his exploits are either exaggerated or blatantly false.
