20 Japanese Companies To Work With TSMC To Locally Manufacture Chips: Report

TSMC intends to bear around half the project’s cost of about 37 billion yen ($337 million)

About 20 Japanese companies, including electronic component maker Ibiden Co, will work with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to develop chip manufacturing technology in Japan, the Nikkei newspaper reported.

Japan is ramping up local chip production in the company, amid which 20 Japanese companies will work with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to develop chip manufacturing technology in the country. 

As per a report by Nikkei, the Japanese government was set to finalize a plan in which it has enlisted TSMC to develop cutting-edge chipmaking technologies in Japan. 

TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, intends to bear around half the project’s cost of about 37 billion yen ($337 million), the remaining half of which will be incurred by the Japanese government. 

The report further explains that the construction of a trial facility will begin this year in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture. Full-blown research and development work will begin as early as 2022.

In February, TSMC had revealed that it would invest around $178 million in opening a material research subsidiary in Japan. 

The Japanese government intends to establish a joint public-private sector concern to cooperate with TSMC, added Nikkei. 

The Japanese government has also recently announced that it would be increasing expenditure on locally producing chips for its companies, a move which it believes will also help it to emerge as a key player in the semiconductor chip market, which so far, is largely dominated by Taiwan.