"Rapidus was founded in 2022 with the aim of revitalizing Japan's fading semiconductor industry, and has signed up help from IBM and Belgian-based R&D organization Imec (Interuniversity Microelectronics Center) for the development of the technology required to reach its goal."
"Rapidus said it will continue to secure funding through capital increases and loans from both public and private sources. It believes this strategic funding plan will enable it to progress from its current R&D phase through to mass production of 2nm silicon by 2027."
"This is an ambitious plan for a four-year-old firm and could position Rapidus as a rival to chipmaking giants TSMC and Samsung, both of which started volume production using their own 2nm silicon processes in Q4 of 2025."
Rapidus, a Japanese semiconductor foundry established in 2022, has completed a $1.7 billion funding round combining government and private sector investment to advance its 2nm chip manufacturing capabilities. The Information-technology Promotion Agency contributed ¥100 billion, while 32 private companies including Canon, Fujitsu, NTT, SoftBank, and Sony provided ¥167.6 billion. Partnering with IBM and Belgium's Imec, Rapidus aims to transition from research and development to mass production of 2nm semiconductors by 2027. Though ambitious for a four-year-old company, this timeline positions Rapidus as a potential rival to established foundries TSMC and Samsung, which began 2nm volume production in late 2025. While unlikely to match their production volumes initially, Rapidus could serve as an alternative foundry for chip designers seeking cutting-edge manufacturing capacity.
#semiconductor-manufacturing #2nm-chip-technology #foundry-competition #japanese-industrial-strategy #chip-production-capacity
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