In an exciting development for the semiconductor landscape, particularly within Japan, there has recently emerged news that could reshape the global chip manufacturing industryThe company Rapidus, buoyed by substantial governmental support, has announced the successful advancement of 2-nanometer (nm) semiconductor technology and is preparing to commence trial production in April of this year, with the aim of achieving full-scale production by the following yearThis leap forward is noteworthy not only for its rapid progression but also for its timing, which positions Rapidus nearly in line with the global leader in semiconductor manufacturing, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). Such a development could potentially disrupt the longstanding dominance that TSMC holds over cutting-edge semiconductor processes, thus altering the dynamics of the worldwide semiconductor sector.

The establishment of Rapidus represents a significant maneuver in Japan's semiconductor strategyIn August 2022, propelled by the Japanese government's leadership, a consortium of eight major Japanese companies—including Toyota, Denso, Sony, NTT, NEC, SoftBank Group, Kioxia, and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group—came together to form Rapidus Chip Manufacturing CompanyThe initial investment was impressive, amounting to approximately 73.46 billion yen (around 3.7 billion RMB). Under the guidance of Chairman Tetsuro Higashi, Rapidus has taken on an ambitious mission: to develop the world's most advanced logic semiconductor processes that would operate at less than 2nm and to construct a large-scale wafer fab in Chitose City, HokkaidoThe ultimate goal is to enable Japan to produce cutting-edge 2nm chips by 2025.

In pursuit of this lofty objective, Rapidus is actively fostering international collaborationsThe company has signed a technical cooperation memorandum with IMEC, a leading microelectronics research center in Belgium, and has established a strategic partnership with IBM to develop 2nm node technology

Advertisements

This collaboration is critical as both organizations leverage their respective expertise to overcome the substantial challenges presented by 2nm technology developmentAs progress in technology development and factory construction unfolds, Rapidus has laid out a clear vision for the futureUpon completion of the new factory, it will primarily focus on manufacturing next-generation ultra-low-power semiconductors, addressing the growing demand in the era of sustainable development goals (SDGs). During a recent speech in Sapporo, Hokkaido, an official revealed that the 2nm wafer factory is on track for its April 1 trial production launchAccording to Junji Koike, who oversees operations, the factory is projected to create a cumulative output value of 18 trillion yen during the mass production phase from 2027 to 2036, thereby demonstrating Rapidus's audacious strategy to simultaneously establish two production lines and acquire ten 2nm extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines.

Currently, the global chip foundry market is predominantly controlled by TSMCIn previous years, Samsung was seen as a formidable competitor to TSMC in advanced processesHowever, as clients like Qualcomm shifted their orders from Samsung to TSMC, the market came to recognize Samsung's inferior transistor density for processes below 7nmThis competitive disadvantage rapidly eroded Samsung's market share, declining from around 20% to below 10%, making it the only company among the global top ten foundries facing a downturn in 2024. To mitigate these setbacks, Samsung has had to scale back its production capacity, significantly reducing its output for 5nm and 3nm technologies by over 30%.

Now, the advancements made by Rapidus in the realm of 2nm technology have positioned it as the only contender capable of challenging TSMC in this fieldThis emerging rivalry is poised to exert considerable pressure on TSMC, which has long been a cornerstone for American semiconductor firms relying heavily on its advanced processes

Advertisements

Advertisements

Advertisements

Advertisements