It is understood that Rapidus is a company that has only been established for one year. It plans to install chip equipment and start trial production in December 2024. The goal is to mass produce 2nm chips within 4 years (2028 at the latest). Rapidus chairman Tetsuro Higashi said the goal was “tough but doable” with support from overseas partners and domestic equipment manufacturers.

About 130 people attended a groundbreaking ceremony for Rapidus’ soon-to-be-built factory, including executives from chip equipment makers such as ASML Holding NV in the Netherlands and Lam Research Corp in Fremont, Calif.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government has pledged billions of dollars in subsidies to bolster domestic chip production. The Japanese government has allocated 330 billion yen to Rapidus and Japanese Minister of Economy Yasutoshi Nishimura said: “The government promises to give Rapidus the greatest support.”

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The Rapidus Chitose facility is reportedly planning to build two or more manufacturing buildings, each corresponding to a different technology generation after 2nm. The number of employees is expected to double from the current 100 by the end of 2023, with further increases from fiscal 2024 onwards to strengthen technology development.

Founded in August 2022, Rapidus is a joint venture between eight Japanese companies, including Toyota, Sony, NTT, NEC, Softbank, Denso Denso, Armor Man and Mitsubishi UFJ Bank, with a capital contribution of 7.3 billion yen (currently about RMB 376 million) and a 70 billion yen (currently about RMB 3.605 billion) subsidy from the Japanese government. The Japanese government has also provided a 70 billion yen (currently about 3.605 billion yuan) grant as a research and development budget.

The Rapidus version of the manufacturing technology is planned to be developed based on IBM’s 2nm process technology “Rapidus Edition”, with trial production of logic semiconductors starting in 2025 and mass production in 2027:

• High-performance computing (HPC) chips, for which demand is expected to grow
• Ultra Low Power” chips, which are predicted for the future of smartphones

Rapidus signed a technology licensing agreement with IBM in the US at the end of 2022, and IBM has successfully piloted a 2nm product in 2021.

Junyi Koike spoke about the background to the choice of Chitose City as the site for the plant, explaining that the most important thing was scalability to meet future demand for semiconductors. Eam 1 (Building 1), which will begin mass production in 2027, will be compatible with the 2nm generation, while Eam 2 (Building 2), planned for the same location, will be the “next-generation 2nm (1nm class)”. The planned ‘Eam 2’ (Building 2) at the same location will be the “next generation of 2nm (1nm class).

The technology generations in each building will be updated sequentially so that the entire plant will always be able to OEM the latest generation,” said Junyi Koike. For the first building, we hope to receive government approval as soon as possible and start construction as soon as possible.”

Also according to the Hokkaido News, multiple sources say Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is drawing up a plan to provide an additional 300 billion yen (currently about RMB 15.63 billion) in funding to Rapidus for the construction of a semiconductor factory in Hokkaido.

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According to Japan’s “Hokkaido Shimbun”, several sources said that Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is drawing up a plan to provide Rapidus with an additional 300 billion yen (currently about 15.63 billion CNY) in funds for the Construction of a semiconductor factory in Hokkaido.

Rapidus selected Chitose, near Sapporo, in February to build a 2nm chip factory after receiving initial funding of 70 billion yen from the Japanese government. The additional funding from the Japanese government will help Rapidus build a prototype production line that it plans to start production in 2025, the sources said.

In fact, the company has previously received initial funding of 70 billion yen (currently about 3.64 billion CNY) from the Japanese government, and the company has also received a total of 7.3 billion yen (currently about 3.64 billion CNY) from eight Japanese companies including Toyota and Sony. 380 million CNY) investment.

Rapidus was established in August 2022, jointly funded by 8 Japanese companies including Toyota, Sony, NTT, NEC, Softbank, Denso Denso, Kioxia, and Mitsubishi UFJ Bank, with a capital contribution of 7.3 billion days In addition, the Japanese government has also provided a subsidy of 70 billion yen as a research and development budget.

Koike Junyi, president of Japanese semiconductor company Rapidus, previously said: It is planned to build a 2nm prototype line by the first half of 2025 at the earliest. It will take 2 trillion yen to establish the technology, and 3 trillion yen will be needed to prepare for the mass production line.

The first prototype of this 2nm semiconductor trial production line will be completed in 2025, and then mass production will begin in the “late 20s” in order to catch up with world-class semiconductor manufacturers such as TSMC as soon as possible. Mass production of 2nm process technology in 2025.

It is worth mentioning that the technical difficulty required for 2nm mass production is greatly improved compared with existing technologies. Although TSMC has a factory in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, this semiconductor factory, which is scheduled to start mass production in 2024, can only produce 12-28 nanometer products.

In addition, Rapidus signed a technology licensing agreement with IBM in the United States at the end of 2022, and IBM has successfully trial-produced 2nm products in 2021. Rapidus will send employees to the United States in the near future to master the required basic technologies.

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In addition to the Japanese government’s 70 billion yen (currently about RMB 3.64 billion) support, the company has also received a total of 7.3 billion yen (currently about RMB 380 million) in investment from eight Japanese companies, including Toyota and Sony.

Rapidus was established in August 2022, by Toyota, Sony, NTT, NEC, Softbank, Denso Denso, Armor Man, Mitsubishi UFJ Bank and other eight Japanese companies jointly funded the establishment of the amount of 7.3 billion yen, in addition to the Japanese government also provided a 70 billion yen grant as a research and development budget.

Japanese semiconductor company Rapidus President Junyi Koike previously said: the earliest plan is to complete a 2nm prototype line in the first half of 2025, the technology needs to establish 2 trillion yen, and the preparation of the mass production line needs 3 trillion yen.

The first prototype of this 2nm semiconductor pilot line will be built in 2025, and then mass production will start in the “late 20s” to catch up with world-class semiconductor manufacturers such as TSMC, which plans to mass produce a 2nm process in 2025.

It is worth mentioning that the 2nm mass production requires a much higher degree of technical difficulty compared to existing technologies. Although TSMC has a factory in Japan’s Kumamoto Prefecture, and this scheduled to start mass production of semiconductor plants in 2024 and can only produce 12 to 28-nanometer products.

In addition, Rapidus signed a technology licensing agreement with IBM in late 2022, and IBM has successfully piloted 2nm products in 2021. Rapidus will be sending employees to the U.S. in the near future to become proficient in the underlying technology required.

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