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Rapidus

Summary

Rapidus Corporation (Japanese: Rapidus株式会社, Hepburn: Rapidus Kabushiki-gaisha) is a semiconductor manufacturer headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Rapidus was established in August 2022 with the support of eight major Japanese companies: Denso, Kioxia, MUFG Bank, NEC, NTT, SoftBank, Sony, and Toyota. The goal of Rapidus is to increase advanced semiconductor manufacturing capacity with a 2 nm process by 2027.[2]

Rapidus Corporation
Rapidus
Native name
Rapidus株式会社
Company typePrivate KK
IndustrySemiconductor industry
FoundedAugust 10, 2022; 20 months ago (2022-08-10) in Tokyo, Japan
Headquarters
Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan
Key people
Tetsuro Higashi [ja] (Chairman)[1]
Atsuyoshi Koike (President and CEO)
Websitewww.rapidus.inc

Background history edit

The semiconductor industry in Japan was highly competitive in the 1980s, with a global share reaching 50%.[3] However, the 1986 Japan-United States semiconductor agreement [ja] concluded to resolve trade friction and the rise of South Korea and Taiwan gradually reduced competitiveness.[4] In 1999, Elpida Memory was established by integrating the businesses of Hitachi and NEC for DRAM, one of the semiconductors for memory, and later took over the business of Mitsubishi Electric, and at one point acquired the world's third largest market share in this field. However, management deteriorated due to the Lehman shock in 2009 and the subsequent yen appreciation recession, and although support was provided with government funds, it went bankrupt in 2012.[5] Elpida was acquired by Micron Technology in 2013,[6] and changed its name to Micron Memory Japan in 2014.[7] Due to international competition from companies including TSMC, Samsung Electronics, and Intel, the share of Japanese companies in the semiconductor industry as a whole has fallen to 10% as of 2019.[8][9]

In May 2022, United States President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met in Tokyo and discussed increased collaboration on important technologies, including semiconductors, nuclear power, space exploration, electric batteries, critical minerals, and supply chains.[10] The Second Kishida Cabinet's basic policy (Honebuto no hōshin) announced on 7 June 2022 included consideration of support for private companies developing next-generation advanced technologies and the establishment of a design and manufacturing infrastructure for next-generation semiconductors in the latter half of the 2020s. On 29 July 2022, high-level talks were held between the United States and Japan by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and Japanese Trade Minister Koichi Hagiuda to discuss collaboration for semiconductors development.[11] In addition, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's policy speech at the 210th session of the Diet [ja] on 3 October 2022 included digital transformation (DX) by encouraging public and private investment, and announced that it would promote the technological development and mass production of next-generation semiconductors through Japan-U.S. collaboration. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has decided to establish the Leading-edge Semiconductor Technology Center [ja] (LSTC) as an organization to conduct next-generation semiconductor research in anticipation of joint research between the two countries based on the basic principles of semiconductor cooperation between Japan and the United States agreed on in May. LSTC and Rapidus collaborate to establish a design and manufacturing platform for next-generation semiconductors in Japan.[12]

Company history edit

2022 edit

On 10 August 2022, Rapidus was established by eight Japanese companies with total investment of 7.3 billion yen[13] for domestic production of advanced semiconductors; with further investments totaling $36 billion expected over a decade.[14][15] Rapidus is led by Tetsuro Higashi (who formerly led Tokyo Electron)[16] and Atsuyoshi Koike (who formerly led Western Digital's Japanese subsidiary).[17] In the same year, METI and the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) publicly solicited applications for advanced semiconductor development consignment projects related to strengthening the foundation of post-5G communication systems, which resulted in 70 billion yen of government subsidies for Rapidus.[18][19]

On 6 December 2022, IMEC announced it had signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with Rapidus, where both companies will set up a long-term and sustainable collaboration on advanced semiconductor technologies, while Rapidus would plan to mass-produce chips in 2-nanometer technology in Japan in the latter half of 2020s.[20][21][22][23]

On 13 December 2022, IBM and Rapidus announced the development of 2 nanometer node technology, with production of the nanosheet gate-all-around FET (GAA FET) devices previously announced by IBM in 2021[12][24] to be done by Rapidus at its fab in Japan.[25][26][27][28] The 2 nm semiconductor chips which Rapidus is aiming to produce are expected to have up to 45% better performance and use 75% less energy compared to 7 nm chips on the market in 2022.[29]

2023 edit

In January 2023, representatives of Rapidus and IBM participated in a meeting between Japanese Trade Minister Hagiuda's successor, Yasutoshi Nishimura, and Secretary Raimondo.[30]

In February 2023, Rapidus announced the selection of a site close to the New Chitose Airport in Chitose, Hokkaido for the location of its planned factory.[31][32] Rapidus also increased its partnership with imec by joining the latter's "Core Partner Program" in April 2023,[33][34] and in the same month received additional funding of 260 billion yen from the Japanese government.[35] An estimated $37 billion in total funding is needed before Rapidus can begin production.[36]

In July 2023, Rapidus and Tokyo Electron were discussed as companies that would "play a major role" in a new memorandum of understanding between Japan and India that is expected to involve $35.9 billion of investment by Japan in India by 2027[37] and was officially signed in New Delhi by ministers Yasutoshi Nishimura and Ashwini Vaishnaw for their countries respectively.[38][39] This agreement closely followed a similar deal between the United States and India which had been reached by President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June.[40][41]

Groundbreaking to begin construction on Rapidus' factory in Chitose was held in September 2023.[42] The company has reportedly been supported by around US$2.5 billion in government subsidies from the Kishida administration thus far.[43] Dutch equipment manufacturer ASML Holding announced they would also open an office in Chitose with 40-50 technical staff to assist Rapidus.[44] While full operation is not expected until 2027, a pilot line is expected to start in 2025.[45]

2024 edit

Construction work began on September 1, 2023, after a groundbreaking ceremony held in Chitose City, Hokkaido, and the ground excavation work was completed approximately 21 days later than scheduled. On January 22, 2024, Rapidus opened a Chitose office to handle communications and contracts with construction companies and equipment delivery companies related to factory construction. The address is ``NTT Chitose Building, 2-16 Chiyodacho, Chitose City, Hokkaido.''[46]

According to a February 27, 2024 Bloomberg article, Rapidus announced that it has been contracted to produce next-generation AI chips from Canadian startup Tenstorrent. Tenstorrent is the first customer announced by Rapidus.[47][48] The architecture that Tenstorrent outsourced to Rapidus for production and development is based on RISC-V, and its benefits are close to what the university stakeholders, who are the main members of Japan's Leading-edged Semiconductor Technology Center (LSTC), desire. (because of its open architecture). Furthermore, the biggest challenge in the relevant architecture is said to be the optimization of the calculation pipeline, and maximizing microfabrication technology is also an important issue in order to realize a multi-stage pipeline.

On April 2, the Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry of Japan announced that it would provide up to JP ￥590 billion in additional support to Rapidus. Including the JP ￥330 billion in subsidies that have already been decided, the total amount of support will reach nearly JP ￥1 trillion.[49]


On April 11, the company announced the establishment of a new company, Rapidus Design Solutions, in Silicon Valley, United States. Henri Richard was appointed president. In addition to selling to major American IT companies, Rapidus Design Solutions aim to secure software and design engineers to create semiconductors that meet customer requests[50].

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Carman, Aaron (2022-12-22). "IBM and Rapidus Team Up to Advance Semiconductor Ecosystem in Japan - News". allaboutcircuits.com.
  2. ^ Foster, Scott (2022-12-16). "Japan's Rapidus positioning to win 2nm chip race". Asia Times.
  3. ^ "半導体新会社ラピダス発足 日本勢「空白の10年」挽回へ". 日本経済新聞 (in Japanese). 2022-11-11.
  4. ^ Uno, Hideki (2022-09-19). "Japan's Semiconductor Industrial Policy from the 1970s to Today". CSIS.org. Center for Strategic and International Studies.
  5. ^ 日本放送協会 (2022-11-10). "トヨタ・ソニーなど国内8社出資 先端半導体の国産化へ新会社 | NHK". NHKニュース (in Japanese).
  6. ^ Dylan McGrath, EETimes. "Micron Closes Elpida Acquisition." July 31, 2013. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  7. ^ "エルピーダ、2月28日から社名を「マイクロンメモリ ジャパン」に変更". マイナビニュース (in Japanese). 2014-01-23. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  8. ^ "かつての「半導体大国」からの凋落。日本に半導体不足を解消する力はあるか | 集英社オンライン | 毎日が、あたらしい". shueisha.online (in Japanese). 2022-09-04.
  9. ^ "Semiconductor Strategy (Overview)" (PDF) (in Japanese). Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. 2021-06-03.
  10. ^ "Japan, U.S. to deepen economic security ties amid supply disruptions". Kyodo News+. 2022-05-23.
  11. ^ Lewis, Simon; Brunnstrom, David (2022-07-30). "U.S., Japan to cooperate on semiconductors as part of new economic dialogue". Reuters.
  12. ^ a b "Toward the Establishment of a Design and Manufacturing Platform for Next-Generation Semiconductors" (PDF) (in Japanese). Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. 2022-11-11.
  13. ^ "2nm世代の国産化へ、国内8社出資の製造会社Rapidus始動". EE Times Japan (in Japanese). 2022-11-11.
  14. ^ "日本の次世代半導体開発・製造へ向けて2つの新組織が始動へ". TECH+（テックプラス） (in Japanese). 2022-11-10.
  15. ^ Sposato, William (2023-01-09). "Japan Bets Big on Bringing Semiconductor Manufacturing Home". Foreign Policy.
  16. ^ "Tetsuro Higashi (Former Chairman, President & CEO) Receives the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star". Tokyo Electron. 2020-04-30.
  17. ^ Yamaguchi, Yuki (2022-11-17). "FOCUS: New Japanese chipmaker Rapidus joins development, investment race". Kyodo News+.
  18. ^ "【独自】「次世代半導体」の新会社を設立 NTT・キオクシアなどが出資へ｜テレ東BIZ（テレビ東京ビジネスオンデマンド）". テレビ東京 (in Japanese). 2022-11-10.
  19. ^ Mochizuki, Takashi; Furukawa, Yuki. "Japan's Rapidus Seeks Billions of Dollars to Reboot Chip Sector". finance.yahoo.com.
  20. ^ "Imec and Rapidus sign Memorandum of Cooperation to collaborate on advanced semiconductor technologies". Rapidus. 2022-12-06.
  21. ^ "Imec and Rapidus sign Memorandum of Cooperation to collaborate on advanced semiconductor technologies". IMEC. 2022-12-06.
  22. ^ Lu, Misha (2022-12-07). "Imec to cooperate with Japan's Rapidus on 2nm technology". DIGITIMES.
  23. ^ Davis, Shannon (2022-12-07). "Imec and Rapidus Sign Memorandum of Cooperation to Collaborate on Advanced Semiconductor Technologies". Semiconductor Digest.
  24. ^ "IBM Unveils World's First 2 Nanometer Chip Technology, Opening a New Frontier for Semiconductors". IBM. 2021-05-06.
  25. ^ "IBM and Rapidus Form Strategic Partnership to Build Advanced Semiconductor Technology and Ecosystem in Japan". IBM. 2022-12-13.
  26. ^ "IBM and Rapidus Form Strategic Partnership to Build Advanced Semiconductor Technology and Ecosystem in Japan". Rapidus. 2022-12-13.
  27. ^ "IBMとRapidus、戦略的パートナーシップを締結、日本における先端半導体技術と エコシステムの共創を目指す" (in Japanese). Rapidus. 2022-12-13.
  28. ^ Humphries, Matthew (2022-12-13). "Japan to Manufacture 2nm Chips With a Little Help From IBM". PCMAG.
  29. ^ Wheatley, Mike (2022-12-14). "IBM partners with new Japanese chipmaker Rapidus on advanced chip production". SiliconANGLE.
  30. ^ "Japan minister calls for new world order to counter rise of authoritarian regimes". The Asahi Shimbun. 2023-01-06.
  31. ^ Izawa, Kenji; Shinden, Satoshi; Wakai, Takumi (2023-03-01). "New Hokkaido chip plant will 'stun the world,' Rapidus says". The Asahi Shimbun.
  32. ^ "半導体会社ラピダス、千歳進出へ最終調整 工場候補地に｢美々ワールド｣：北海道新聞デジタル". 北海道新聞デジタル (in Japanese). 2023-02-19.
  33. ^ "Rapidus joins imec's Core Partner Program - News". Silicon Semiconductor. 2023-04-04.
  34. ^ Hall, Heather (2023-04-11). "Rapidus, Japan's new chip manufacturer, joins imec's Core Partner Program". Research & Development World.
  35. ^ Nagao, Riho (2023-04-26). "Japan to give chipmaker Rapidus nearly $2bn more in aid". Nikkei Asia.
  36. ^ Patterson, Alan (2023-06-23). "Rapidus CEO Chasing Single-Wafer-Processing Dream". EE Times. Retrieved 2023-07-02.
  37. ^ "India and Japan reach semiconductors agreements". TechHQ. 2023-08-08.
  38. ^ Bhatnagar, Rishabh (2023-07-20). "India, Japan Sign MoU For Semiconductor Development". BQ Prime.
  39. ^ "Japan becomes second Quad partner to sign semiconductor pact with India". The Economic Times. 2023-07-20. ISSN 0013-0389.
  40. ^ "Japan and India vow to boost chip supply chains with eye on economic security". The Japan Times. 2023-07-21.
  41. ^ "India And Japan Sign MoU To Boost Semiconductor Industry Collaboration". BW Businessworld. 2023-07-21.
  42. ^ Mann, Tobias (2023-09-01). "Rapidus ramps as construction begins on 2nm wafer fab". www.theregister.com.
  43. ^ Winkler, Matthew; Mochizuki, Takashi; Furukawa, Yuki (2023-09-11). "This Startup Is Using Billions of Dollars to Build Japan's Own TSMC". Yahoo Finance. Bloomberg.
  44. ^ Chiang, Jen-Chieh (2023-09-28). "ASML to establish a base in Japan in support of Rapidus". DIGITIMES.
  45. ^ Johnston, Eric (2023-10-23). "Hokkaido waits to gauge impact from upcoming Rapidus chip plant". The Japan Times.
  46. ^ "Rapidus、千歳事務所を開所". Rapidus株式会社 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2024-02-24.
  47. ^ "ラピダス、ケラー氏率いるテンストレントとＡＩアクセラレータで協業". Bloomberg.com (in Japanese). 2024-02-27. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  48. ^ "Tenstorrent RISC-V and Chiplet Technology Selected to Build the Future of AI in Japan". Tenstorrent. 2024-02-27. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  49. ^ "経産省、ラピダス追加支援 次世代半導体、最大５９００億円：朝日新聞デジタル". 朝日新聞デジタル (in Japanese). 2024-04-02. Retrieved 2024-04-16.
  50. ^ "ラピダス、米に新会社設立 半導体、ＩＴ大手に売り込みへ：朝日新聞デジタル". 朝日新聞デジタル (in Japanese). 2024-04-13. Retrieved 2024-04-16.

Further reading edit

  • Patterson, Alan (2023-06-23). "Rapidus CEO Chasing Single-Wafer-Processing Dream". EE Times.
  • Flaherty, Nick (2023-06-29). "Rapidus is the last chance for Japan semiconductors says chair". eeNews Europe.
  • Shilov, Anton (2023-07-26). "Rapidus Wants to Supply 2nm Chips to Tech Giants, Challenge TSMC". www.anandtech.com.
  • Harukata, Takenaka (2023-08-07). "Japan Plots Semiconductor Comeback: An Interview with Nishikawa Kazumi (Part 1)". nippon.com.
  • Harukata, Takenaka (2023-08-09). "Japan Bets on Rapidus in Chips Race: An Interview with Nishikawa Kazumi (Part 2)". nippon.com.

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