Powerchip Semiconductor to setup Semiconductor Foundry in Miyagi

Taiwanese chip maker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp and Japanese financial firm SBI Holdings said on Oct 31 they had chosen the site of a $5.4 billion foundry in northern Japan's Miyagi. Although the project has yet to receive government backing, Reuters reported this month that talks were progressing on what would be the Taiwanese chipmaker's latest commitment to Japanese production.

 Powerchip said it aims to produce the microcontrollers and power chips needed to power electric vehicles, as well as artificial intelligence chips.

 The $2.8 billion first phase, scheduled for 2027, will see the foundry produce chips using 40-nanometer and 55-nanometer technologies, with the goal of producing 10,000 wafers a month.

The second phase, planned for two years later, aims to introduce 28-nanometer technology, aiming to produce 40,000 wafers per month. The factory will be located in an industrial park near the Sendai metropolis with plenty of land, water and electricity, the companies said.

Powerchip and SBI announced their plan to build the fab in July and received proposals from more than 30 local governments, from the northern island of Hokkaido to the manufacturing hub of Kyushu, the companies said.  Japan is investing heavily in chip manufacturing, with the government offering generous subsidies to companies such as domestic foundry company Rapidus and Taiwan's main contract chipmaker TSMC.