[News] Half of Japan’s New Fabs Yet to Start Mass Production Amid Weak Non-AI Demand

According to a report from TechNews, citing Nikkei, chip demand outside of AI applications remains sluggish. As of April, only three of the seven semiconductor plants built or acquired in Japan during fiscal years 2023 and 2024 have begun mass production.

The report notes that Japan’s semiconductor industry is expected to receive around 9 trillion yen (USD 62 billion) in investment between 2022 and 2029. Additionally, the government plans to allocate over 10 trillion yen in support for the semiconductor and AI sectors by fiscal 2030. However, progress on these investments remains limited, the report adds.

For instance, the report notes that Renesas reopened its Kofu plant in April 2024 after a nine-year hiatus but postponed mass production—originally scheduled for earlier this year—due to weak demand for power semiconductors used in electric vehicles and other applications.

Similarly, the report mentions that Rohm acquired a plant in 2023 and began pilot production in November, but has yet to decide on a date for full-scale production.

Memory maker Kioxia is expected to bring a new memory fabrication plant into operation in fall 2025. Although construction was completed in July 2024, the company has chosen to delay production until the memory market shows signs of recovery, the report adds.

Even among facilities in production, expansion is cautious. For example, the report notes that Sony’s new wafer plant in Isahaya, Nagasaki, still has unused space, as weaker demand—driven by falling iPhone sales and rising Chinese competition—has slowed image sensor growth.

As for TSMC, the report notes that mass production at its first Kumamoto fab began in December 2024, though industry sources believe the facility is not yet operating at full capacity. Construction of the second plant, originally scheduled for fiscal 2024, has been delayed to the current fiscal year, but TSMC maintains that mass production remains on track for fiscal 2027, the report indicates.

Meanwhile, the Japanese government has been actively supporting Rapidus in its push to develop advanced semiconductor production. The company is targeting 2nm manufacturing, but mass production won’t begin until 2027. It is currently in talks with Apple, Google, and dozens of other potential clients, according to Nikkei.

Read more

• [News] Global Chipmakers Reduce Investments for 2nd Year in a Row as EV and Smartphone Demand Stalls
• [News] European Chip Giants NXP and STMicroelectronics Plan Layoffs Amid Market Downturn

(Photo credit: ROHM)