Samsung Electronics Co is to build a new semiconductor chip development facility in Japan, Japan’s Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported.
The plant would be in Yokohama, where Samsung has a research and development site, the report said, without citing anyone.
The South Korean firm would build a production line for a prototype chip, and the facility would cost more than ¥30 billion (US$221 million), with the Japanese government expected to provide more than ¥10 billion in subsidies, it said.
Photo: AFP
Operations are targeted to begin in 2025, it reported.
Samsung’s move follows its bigger foundry rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which is building a plant in Japan’s Kumamoto Prefecture for its 12-nanometer, 16-nanometer and 22-nanometer processes, as well as 28-nanometer specialty technology, with commercial production expected to start next year.
TSMC is building the plant through Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Inc, a joint venture with Sony Semiconductor Solution Corp and Denso Corp.
Relations between Japan and South Korea are improving, with their leaders visiting each other’s nations and agreeing to cooperate on chips and security.
The Japanese government has also been signaling support for semiconductor and battery projects as it tries to bolster its supply chain for the key products. Japan would provide subsidies for eight battery and two semiconductor projects, Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura said last month.
Separately, Samsung executive chairman Jay Y. Lee and Tesla Inc chief executive officer Elon Musk met in the US last week, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported.
Lee and Musk held the meeting at Samsung’s semiconductor research center in Silicon Valley, California, on Wednesday, Yonhap said yesterday.
The two companies are looking at possibly joining forces to develop chips for fully autonomous vehicles among other things, the report cited people in the industry as saying.
The global market for automotive chips is expected to rise to US$400 billion by next year, and to jump to US$700 billion by 2028, Yonhap said, citing Strategic Analytics and Research and Markets.
Lee wrapped up his 22-day visit to the US on Friday, after a series of meetings with other business leaders including Microsoft Corp CEO Satya Nadella and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, the report said.
The meeting was Lee’s first private one with Musk, Yonhap said.
Additional reporting by CNA
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his