Rapidus, a chipmaker backed by the government of Japan, has announced its new plans for advanced semiconductor technology. The company is seeking to build 2nm prototype process line by the year 2025.

In other words, the Japanese chip venture might be seeking to catch up to the world’s largest contract chipmaker, TSMC. For those unaware, the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company is set to start risk production of its next gen 2nm process in 2024. Furthermore, mass production for this cutting edge semiconductor process is also set to begin sometime in 2025. Similarly, even Samsung is rushing to begin production of its 2nm process line by the same year.

Unfortunately, the company has only announced its prototype line’s timeline. The mass production of the advanced process is only slated to begin sometime in the late 2020s. Although, even with this schedule, the Japanese government backed firm is still not too far behind the industry giant, TSMC. The company will also officially finalize its plans regarding the site location for the prototype facility in March. Notably, this site will also be responsible for the mass production later down the road.

Some of the key factors that will influence this decision is the availability of stable water and robust electrical infrastructure. This location should also be able to “attract domestic and foreign talent easily,” as per Rapidus President Atsuyoshi Koike. He stated that “we aim to produce only advanced chips, establishing a high margin business model,” further adding that “We want to bring in engineers from areas that different companies specialize in, in order to create new value”.

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(Source)

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India is apparently in talks with major chip makers Intel, GlobalFoundries, and even TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) over possibly setting up advanced local semiconductor plants in the region.

According to an ETTelecom report, the move from India arrives as it seeks to bring more high tech manufacturing into the nation. Just last year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government announced that it is setting up a 10 billion US Dollar incentive plan. This large sum would seek to cover around half of any chipmakers’ costs. To put things simply, the fund was an attempt in attracting display and semiconductor manufacturers to set up a plant in the country.

Through these incentives, the Indian government aims to rival its neighbor, China, and also become a notable figure in the electronics production segment. According to Rajeev Chandrasekhar, a former Intel engineer, “Most of the pitches to these big companies, I’m making myself. We’re meeting the CEOs, talking to them, making presentations.” But unfortunately, the attempts at attracting any major chip giant are still questionable since firms like Samsung and TSMC invest tens of billions of dollars every year to expand their production capacity.

Furthermore, semiconductor production also requires high demand from the region the plants are set up. This includes logistics, water, and energy supply. At the moment, the venture between Vedanta Group and Foxconn Technology Group has shown interest in setting up semiconductor foundries within the nation. Although, Intel and TSMC have yet to show a similar level of commitment as of right now, but negotiations are still underway.

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Huawei is apparently planning to build a new fab manufacturing plant in China. The new site will be built in partnership with SMIC (Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp) and will cost tens of billions of dollars.

The news arrives from Media reports in China, which claim that the smartphone and telecommunications based giant will be setting up a new fab site in Shenzhen. For those unaware, SMIC is China’s largest wafer fab and contract chipmaker. Thus, Huawei will leverage SMIC’s expertise in semiconductor production technology along with its own chip designing capabilities. Notably, the brand also sought TSMC‘s supply chain for cooperation to help grow its semiconductor proficiency via funding.

Additionally, the report also stated (Via HuaweiCentral) that “Recently, Huawei has come to us to help build a fab in the mainland.” It further added that the company’s primary focus at the moment is to acquire an ample amount of equipment and plant resources to reach mass production levels. So, Huawei has reached out to members of the “TSMC Alliance.” This, in turn, would help accelerate setting up its fab while also shortening the time to enter mass production.

Interestingly, the company is even looking for partners to promote its semiconductor production plans. As of right now, the investment amount for this major project is still unknown, although, the company is expected to receive official support as well. For those unaware, US sanctions had cut off Huawei from its primary chip supplier TSMC, so it arrives as no surprise that the company plans to build its own chip plant.

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SMIC, China’s largest chip maker, has entered into an agreement with Shenzhen government to build a new wafer fabrication plant in the country. The news arrives as the world suffers from a major semiconductor shortage.

According to a SCMP report, the new SMIC Shenzhen plant will be using mature chip making technologies of 28nm processes and above. This plant is set to have a goal of producing 40,000 12 inch wafers per month. The announcement arrived earlier this week, with the production at the new factory expected to begin in 2022. Furthermore, the SMIC and the Shenzhen government backed investment fund will invest a total of 2.35 billion US Dollars in the plant.

The Chinese chip maker will hold a stake of 55 percent stake in the facility while the Shenzhen fund will hold a 23 percent share. As per an official statement from the company, “By seizing the opportunity in Shenzhen to develop the integrated circuit industry, the project can meet growing market and customer needs, and promote our development.” Notably, the plans to build the new plant arrives amid a global shortage of chips that has affected various industries across the world.

Additionally, the move from the chip maker and the local government is also in line with China’s efforts to become self sufficient in semiconductor technology, especially in regard with 28nm process with the next two years. This technology is positioned between the low to mid and mid to high end chips and is widely used in mature products like smart TVs and other smart gadgets as well.

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The Indian government has recently issued an Expression of Interest (EoI) for setting up an existing semiconductor FAB plant in the region and is even planning to offer incentives to attract investments.

According to a BusinessToday report, the government is keen on bringing investments to set up or expand a wafer/device fabrication plant within the country or even acquire semiconductor FABs outside of India. Notably, the plans are the main part of the government’s National Policy on Electronics 2019, which aims to position India as a global hub for Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM).

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For those unaware, semiconductor technologies are an integral part of the digital world in this day and age, with various economies also rushing for a similar goal at the moment. Notably, semiconductors are a crucial part of the total value of Bill of Material (BOM). Furthermore, semiconductor manufacturing is a complex and research intensive area that also requires high investments. Thus, the Indian government is planning to incentivize and attract investments to set up FABs in India.

This move also arrives as the nation is striving to increase it global manufacturing share of smartphones, automotive electronics, IT hardware, industrial and medical technology, and even IoT (Internet of Things) devices within the near future. The country plans on expanding its electronics manufacturing sector to 400 billion US Dollars by the year 2025.  The government is currently inviting proposals for semiconductor FABs with the last date of submissions being 31st January 2021. Information received through these responses will help in formulating a scheme to expand on existing semiconductor facilities or acquire such plants outside of India.

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Prices of DRAM, and NAND flash memory chips plunged in October as per a Korean report. The reason for the downfall is reportedly the US’ sanction on Huawei that recently came into effect.

According to a research firm DRAMeXchange(via TheElec) prices of PC DDR4 8GB DRAM, 128GB NAND flash memory card. And USB MLC products fell to $2.85, and $4.2 in October respectively. In fact, the drop from August and September is about 8.9% for the DRAM. And 3.4% for the memory chips above. The report also says that the drop is higher than the 5% drop in July for DRAM.  This drop was after a sudden soar in early 2020 due to the COVID-19 situation.

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That said the report says the average selling price of PC DRAM will continue to fall in Q4 2020. It could reach as high as a 10% drop as the oversupply situation is imminent. The reason these prices dint drop that much in Q3 was the heavy stockpiling of Huawei after US ban. Further, South Korean giant Samsung also said that it expects Q4 to be dull for server chips demand as demand lessens, and competition rises.

Before you conclude a catastrophe, the report breathes confidence that the memory market will likely recover next year. Although there isn’t a proper timeline, somewhere before the first half of 2021 should do it. Similarly, Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International(SEMI) predicts that semiconductor fab spending will rise by 18% in 2021.

The impending YoY(year-on-year) demand for Memory chips has forced companies like Samsung to reportedly invest in fab facilities before the situation gets out of hand. This could probably make up for the worst situation it faced this year due to the pandemic.

UP NEXT: OEMs ramp up IC parts orders in a bid to fill the vacuum created by Huawei’s slump

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