Japan’s government-backed Rapidus Corp is lobbying chipmakers, their suppliers and research institutions to set up shop on the island of Hokkaido in a bid to make the remote region a center of semiconductor innovation within a decade.
The 13-month-old start-up’s goal to make cutting-edge chips from scratch is part of a broader design to build a Silicon Valley-like ecosystem. Rapidus envisions a chipmaking cluster spanning coast to coast, with easy access to multiple ports, CEO Atsuyoshi Koike said.
“My big ambition is to realize a ‘Hokkaido Valley’ that spreads from Tomakomai to Ishikari that can compete against Silicon Valley in size,” Koike, 71, a former Western Digital Corp executive, told Bloomberg News.
Photo: Bloomberg
“We have a chance to become a North Star” that sets the trend in the global chip industry, he said.
Rapidus, a company backed with billions of US dollars in taxpayer funds and support from household names such as Sony Group Corp and Toyota Motor Corp, is plotting a course to mass-produce 2-nanometer logic chips by 2027.
If successful, the long-shot endeavor would mean a generational leap in tech for Japan, whose chipmaking capability stalled decades ago at now-legacy 40-nanometer nodes.
Koike is inviting manufacturers throughout the supply chain to invest in Japan’s northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido, where Rapidus is building a factory in preparation for pilot line operations in 2025.
Companies need to work together more effectively toward a common goal, the chip veteran said.
Working separately “is not the right way,” he added.
Instead of competing against global chip giants that make large volumes of all-purpose chips, the Tokyo-based company would focus on pioneering specialized chips, such as low-power-consumption artificial intelligence chips, Koike said.
Hokkaido, which has ample clean water and is one of Japan’s top producers of renewable energy, is an ideal location to stage a chip renaissance, he said.
The venture is central to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s signature project to revive Japan’s status as a chip superpower and jump-start the long-stagnant economy.
The ability to domestically make the most advanced chips is crucial to lowering dependence on sector leaders Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co in an era of artificial intelligence and rising US-China tensions, policymakers say.
Japan has allocated US$2.4 billion for the venture, with officials saying they are prepared to provide a comparable budget every year.
Kishida has pledged “utmost support” to Rapidus to keep the venture on track.
However, daunting hurdles remain. A shortage of engineers is constricting chip production around the world. Rapidus employs 200 people, compared with more than 73,000 at TSMC, which is also hiring workers for its new factory in Japan’s southwestern Kumamoto Prefecture.
Still, Koike said that he is confident.
California-based Lam Research Corp and Belgium-based microelectronics research hub IMEC are not the only ones setting up shop in Hokkaido, he said, adding that many Japanese chip material suppliers and equipment makers are also considering production sites close to Rapidus’ upcoming plant.
TSMC’s success in spurring economic growth in Kumamoto Prefecture is generating high hopes about Rapidus’ effect on Hokkaido.
Creating Hokkaido’s version of Silicon Valley would take time, but is feasible, Koike said.
“We’d like to get there by around 2030,” he added.
After several years flying high as Asia’s best Nvidia Corp proxy, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is increasingly vying with other artificial intelligence (AI) stocks for investor attention. Stock traders are chasing a wider array of beneficiaries as mainstream usage of AI creates demand for hardware beyond the most-advanced chips TSMC makes for Nvidia. Subthemes from the deepening memory crunch to advances in robotics are also luring bids. At the same time, investment caps on single stocks are pushing funds to diversify, while retail investors long familiar with TSMC through its US depositary receipts are being offered a broader set of
UNDER MICROSCOPE: Taiwan detained three people who allegedly conspired to buy servers in Taiwan and export them using fraudulent documentation, prosecutors said Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday urged Super Micro Computer Inc to tighten up on compliance after Taiwan detained three people this week for allegedly making fraudulent declarations about artificial intelligence (AI) servers made by its US partner. The development marked the nation’s first crackdown on semiconductor smuggling, which grew after the US slapped restrictions on exports of high-end chips such as Nvidia AI accelerators to China. Nvidia is “rigorous” in explaining regulations to all of its partners, Huang told reporters after arriving in Taipei. “Ultimately Super Micro has to run their own company,” he said in response to
Netherlands-based semiconductor equipment supplier ASML Holding NV yesterday said that it is planning to hire an additional 1,000 people in Taiwan this year in response to growing demand from clients. ASML had previously planned to recruit 600 people this year, but that the plan has been adjusted upward, ASML vice president and ASML Taiwan general manager Grace Wang (汪佳慧) told reporters. ASML has a workforce of more than 4,500 in Taiwan, accounting for about 10 percent of its global total, Wang said. This year’s recruitment campaign would focus on adding people in the customer support, manufacturing and supply chain domains to assist ASML
TECH RELIANCE: Growth is increasingly reflecting an unequal K-shaped distribution, where technology sectors outperform and other industries struggle, an expert said Standard Chartered Bank has significantly raised its forecast for Taiwan’s economic growth to 9.5 percent this year, up from 7.6 percent previously, citing surging artificial intelligence (AI) demand driving exports, semiconductor production and investment. The upgrade reflects a sustained AI supercycle that continues to fuel demand for advanced chips and technology infrastructure, which form the backbone of Taiwan’s exports, the bank said in a report this week. “We raise our 2026 growth forecast to reflect a much stronger-than-expected first-quarter GDP figure,” Standard Chartered senior economist for greater China and Asia Tommy Wu (胡東安) said in the report. Driven largely by a 35.3 percent
RSS