FAR EAST: JAPAN REPORT
The full details of the government’s goal of a next-generation semiconductor development system have been revealed. Led by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and in cooperation with the private sector and overseas countries such as the United States, a new company will be established to mass produce next-generation semiconductors, and a new R&D center will be launched. This is the first time that a comprehensive system for research and mass production of advanced semiconductors has been established.
The new structure has two pillars. The “LSTC (Leading-edge Semiconductor Technology Center)” will be established by the end of this year as a research and development center for next-generation semiconductors. The University of Tokyo, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tohoku University, RIKEN, and others will participate in the LSTC, which aims to be an open R&D platform for both domestic and international use so that the results of research can be put to practical use. The company is also considering collaboration with the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC), which is scheduled to be established in the United States.
A new company has also been established as a mass production base for next-generation semiconductors. The new company is called Rapidus, and is funded by Toyota Motor Corporation, Denso Corporation, Sony Group, NTT, NEC, Softbank, semiconductor giant Kioxia, and Mitsubishi UFJ Bank.
The company was established in August and is preparing to become a mass production center for advanced semiconductors, and at the end of September applied to the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) for a contract manufacturing project for advanced semiconductors. The government has drawn up a 1.3 trillion-yen supplementary budget plan to support semiconductors, and it is possible that part of this amount will also be used to support the new system in the future. In addition, several major Japanese companies, including NTT and Kioxia, have decided to invest in the company to support the development of next-generation semiconductors.
The new company plans to focus on mass production of advanced semiconductors with computing functions, known as “logic semiconductors.” The production of logic semiconductors is an area in which Japan lags behind, with Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturer TSMC holding a nearly 60% share of the global market. The new company will work with LSTC to secure mass production as early as around 2026.
Source: Yahoo! Japan
PSR Analysis: In the midst of intensifying international competition, Japan has finally begun to focus on the development and production of semiconductors.
The amount of support for semiconductors this year is 7.5 trillion yen in the U.S. and 6.2 trillion yen in Europe, while Japan currently has 1.3 trillion yen. The amount of government support for the establishment of this new company is 70 billion yen. I feel that this is an order of magnitude short of developing a 2-nanometer. The smaller the circuit width, the higher the performance of logic semiconductors. TSMC of Taiwan and Samsung Electronics of Korea have established mass production technology for 3-nanometer products and have announced plans to mass produce 2-nanometer products by 2025. Japan’s current logic semiconductor production lines are 40 nm at the latest, and Japan has been lagging.
In other words, rather than participating in the money game of competing for the largest investment, Japan will focus on the development of advanced technologies and compete in the development of high-performance semiconductors, for which demand is expected to grow in the future.
In the 1980s, Japan was the world leader in semiconductors, but the Japan-U.S. trade friction of that time led to the decline of the Japanese semiconductor industry. The public-private semiconductor development reported this time may be an opportunity for Japan to regain its position of technological strength in the field of semiconductors. A very tough battle of budget and time is about to begin. PSR
Akihiro Komuro is Research Analyst, Far East and Southeast Asia, for Power Systems Research
