Japan has secured the assistance of the US to power up 2nm chip manufacturing as early as 2025, Nikkei reports. Japanese and American businesses could jointly start a new company or Japanese companies could set up a manufacturing facility while working with American partners for R&D and design. Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will partially subsidize costs and capital expenditures.
Like the EU, Japan is seeking out a modicum of supply security of semiconductors. Mirroring the Chips Acts from the EU and the US, the Japanese government has drawn up a plan to bolster domestic semiconductor manufacturing and design this decade. The trailing-edge nodes (12-16nm and 22-28nm) have been covered by partnering with TSMC, which agreed to build a new fab in Japan, and now the leading edge will be dealt with in collaboration with the US.
