20 Japanese companies to cooperate with TSMC to develop chip manufacturing technology

Chip manufacturing has become a battleground for all countries, and about 20 Japanese companies, including electronic component maker Feidian (Ibiden), will work with TSMC to develop chip manufacturing technology at an R & D center in Japan, according to media reports on Monday.

The Nikkei News quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that the R & D center will invest 37 billion yen ($337 million), half of which will be paid by the Japanese government, but the report did not disclose the source.

It should be noted that with the development of 5G infrastructure, self-driving technology, data centers and artificial intelligence, the demand for chips is also growing, and Japan hopes to work with TSMC to help domestic semiconductor manufacturers remain competitive.

Echoing this, Japan has been making a lot of moves in the chip field recently, trying to regain its former glory. Japanese media reported on May 26th that the Japanese government wants TSMC and Sony to invest 1 trillion yen ($9.2 billion) to build Japan's first 20-nanometer semiconductor factory to produce chips for cars, industrial machinery and home appliances.

In February, TSMC also said it would spend about $178 million to open a materials research subsidiary near Tokyo.

After Asia became the "bearer" of chip manufacturing, the supply chain disruption caused by the epidemic made countries around the world aware of the seriousness of the problem and wanted to develop their own chip manufacturing industry. In addition to Japan, the European Union is also trying to win over TSMC to set up a plant in Europe. The European Commission hopes that Europe's share of global semiconductor production will double to 20% by 2030, while producing state-of-the-art 2-nanometer chips. In addition, the United States has also held several chip summits, hoping to provide a series of financial and policy support for the development of the chip manufacturing industry.