To Reduce Reliance on TSMC, Japan Adds 631.5 Billion Yen Subsidy for Rapidus

Kyodo News reports that Akazawa Ryosei emphasized in an interview with reporters that a project with so much tax money invested must be made successful.

With this additional funding, the total R&D support for Rapidus Corporation for fiscal years 2022 to 2026 will reach 2.354 trillion yen.

As countries accelerate competition in advanced semiconductor development, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has also proposed it as one of the pillars of the development strategy.

Rapidus President Atsuyoshi Koike has vowed that the company will begin mass production in fiscal 2027.

Bloomberg News reported that Rapidus began developing wafers using a 2-nanometer process last year, with the goal of mass-producing advanced semiconductors by 2027 and helping Japan reduce its reliance on industry leader TSMC.

However, a huge gap remains between the Japanese semiconductor manufacturer and TSMC, which already began mass production of 2-nanometer chips last year and is the preferred chip supplier for NVIDIA Corporation and Apple Inc. (Editor: Chen Yen-chun) 1150412