To revitalize its domestic semiconductor chip industry, Japan has launched several measures in recent years, including financial subsidies. According to Japanese media reports, many Japanese companies will invest JPY 5 trillion (Around USD 30.96 billion) to develop the semiconductor business.

Nikkei Asia reported on July 8 that eight Japanese companies, including Sony, Mitsubishi Electric, Rohm, Toshiba, Kioxia, Renesas, Rapidus, and Fuji Electric, will invest JPY 5 trillion in the semiconductor field by 2029, driven by the promising prospects of AI, EV, and carbon reduction markets.

As per Nikkei News, based on the capital investment plans from the fiscal 2021 to 2029 of these manufacturers, in order to rejuvenate Japan’s domestic chip industry, these companies will increase their investments in power semiconductor, sensor, and logic chip fields, which are seen as core technologies to the burgeoning sectors such as AI, decarbonization, and EV.

Among these, Sony plans to invest about JPY 1.6 trillion from fiscal 2021 to 2026 to ramp up its CMOS image sensor production capacity. Sony is a globally renowned image sensor manufacturer, and its chip business head, Terushi Shimizu, previously predicted that Sony’s market share in the global image sensor market would reach 60% by the new fiscal year starting April 2025.

In December 2023, Sony held a completion ceremony for the expansion project at its Nagasaki Technology Center (Isahaya City, Nagasaki Prefecture), which produces image sensors. Sony also announced the plan to build a new image sensor production plant in Kumamoto Prefecture, matching the need to expand the Nagasaki plant to improve its supply system. Nikkei News reported in 2022 that Sony planed to invest several hundred billion yen in the new Kumamoto plant to produce smartphone image sensors, with construction expected to start as early as 2024 and production in 2025.

Toshiba and Rohm, positive about the expanding demand for AI data center and the EV market, project to jointly invest about JPY 380 billion to increase the production of silicon (Si) and silicon carbide (SiC) power semiconductors.

In December 2023, Toshiba announced that it had reached an agreement with Rohm to collaborate on manufacturing power devices. Both companies are expected to make efficiency investment totaling JPY 388.3 billion in silicon (Si) and silicon carbide (SiC) power devices fields, aiming to significantly strengthen their supply capacity and complement each other’s production capabilities.

Rohm plans to build a new plant in Miyazaki Prefecture on Kyushu Island and will allocate JPY 289.2 billion in silicon carbide wafer production. Toshiba will invest nearly JPY 100 billion to set up a cutting-edge 300mm wafer manufacturing plant in Ishikawa Prefecture, central Japan.

Mitsubishi Electric plans to invest JPY 100 billion to build a new factory in Kumamoto Prefecture to produce silicon carbide power semiconductor, expected to commence operation in April 2026. Mitsubishi Electric aims to increase its SiC power semiconductor production capacity to five times the 2022 level by 2026. Mitsubishi Electric President Kei Urishima stated, “We will establish a system capable of rival global leader Infineon.”

In 2022, Renesas announced a plan to invest JPY 90 billion to convert its previously closed Kofu factory into a 12-inch wafer plant to meet the growing demand in the power semiconductor field. On April 11 this year, the factory officially resumed operations. Renesas previously estimated that the factory would start mass-producing IGBT and power MOSFET devices in 2025, doubling the company’s overall power semiconductor production capacity.

As to logic semiconductor industry, Japan’s new semiconductor player Rapidus plans to produce 2nm chip in Hokkaido, with a total investment of JPY 2 trillion, of which the Japanese government decided to subsidize JPY 920 billion. Rapidus plans to start trial production of 2nm logic chip in April 2025 and achieve large-scale mass production by 2027.

To capitalize on the expanding opportunities in artificial intelligence (AI), electric vehicles (EV), and the carbon reduction market, eight Japanese companies, including Sony and Mitsubishi Electric, plan to invest JPY 5 trillion (around USD 30 billion) in semiconductors. According to a report by Nikkei on July 8, this investment is expected to increase the production of image sensors, power semiconductors, logic semiconductors, and other products.

Reportedly, eight Japanese companies, including Sony, are planning to invest JPY 5 trillion in semiconductors by 2029, driven by the optimistic outlook for the AI and carbon reduction markets. The report compiled by Nikkei surveys the equipment investment plans of eight major Japanese semiconductor manufacturers for the period from 2021 to 2029: Sony, Mitsubishi Electric, Rohm, Toshiba, Kioxia, Renesas, Rapidus, and Fuji Electric.

The report indicates that Sony will invest roughly JPY 1.6 trillion from 2021 to 2026 to increase the production of CMOS image sensors and other products, with plans to build a new factory in Kumamoto Prefecture. Additionally, Japanese manufacturers are expanding the production of power semiconductors in response to the growing AI data center and EV markets.

Toshiba and Rohm plan to invest a combined total of around 380 billion yen to increase production of silicon (Si) and silicon carbide (SiC) power semiconductors. Mitsubishi Electric aims to increase its SiC power semiconductor capacity to five times the 2022 level by 2026 and will invest about 100 billion yen to build a new factory in Kumamoto Prefecture. Mitsubishi Electric President Kei Urushima stated that they aim to establish a system capable of competing with its rival Infineon, which is the global leader in the SiC power products.

Reportedly, Japanese semiconductor companies held a 50% global market share in 1988. However, after the 1990s, they lost the competition to Taiwanese and South Korean manufacturers, leading to their withdrawal from advanced process research and development in the early 2000s. By 2017, Japan’s market share had fallen below 10%.

In recent years, the Japanese government has been actively revitalizing the semiconductor industry. In the field of advanced logic semiconductors necessary for AI, the Japanese government has decided to provide up to 920 billion yen in support to Rapidus. Rapidus plans to begin trial production of 2-nanometer chips in April 2025 and commence mass production in 2027.

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(Photo credit: Mitsubishi Electric)