Tag - chipmakers

 
 

CHIPMAKERS

Daikin plans to start introducing the custom chips in high-end air conditioners from 2025 and is looking at using them in about a fifth of units by the end of the decade.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 1, 2023
Japan air conditioner king Daikin eyes custom chips for energy savings
Bespoke silicon costs more than off-the-shelf alternatives but offer better efficiency and allow a reduction in the use of other components.
Rapidus Chairman Tetsuro Higashi says engineers who had left Japan to work abroad are now joining Rapidus to help it revive the domestic chip industry.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 30, 2023
Rapidus hunts for engineers to help Japan regain faded chip glory
Securing engineers in a country with a declining population is among the most pressing issues for the company.
The buzz surrounding MediaTek casts a spotlight on growing competition between semiconductor firms that are exploiting the use of AI to grab a larger share of the smartphone business.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 28, 2023
AI chip boom fuels Taiwan firm’s 40% rally, beating Qualcomm
A five-month rally in MediaTek looks set to extend as booming demand for smartphones and a promising new AI chip brighten the company’s outlook.
Up until very recently, the business of packaging semiconductors — encasing chips in materials that both protect them and connect them to the electronic device they’re part of — was, at best, an afterthought for the industry.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 22, 2023
A new front is opening up in the U.S.-China conflict over chips
The process of packaging semiconductors is increasingly seen as the "secret sauce" — a path toward achieving higher performance.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.'s factory currently under construction in Kikuyo, Kumamoto Prefecture
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 21, 2023
TSMC eyes third Japan chip plant with cutting-edge 3 nanometer tech
Another plant in Japan, this one making advanced 3-nanometer (3nm) chips, would potentially turn Japan into a major global chipmaking hub.
An Omron X-ray scanner VT-X750 at the company’s Ayabe Factory in Kyoto
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 21, 2023
X-rays are becoming an essential health check-up in chipmaking
Omron, a Japanese provider of health care equipment and factory automation, is setting its sights on the lucrative chipmaking gear market to fuel future growth.
Japanese state-backed fund INCJ has sold all but a token portion of its stake in semiconductor manufacturer Renesas Electronics.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 10, 2023
Japan fund INCJ sells ¥279 billion of Renesas shares
The shares have primarily been sold to overseas institutional investors, INCJ said.
The construction site of a new Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. factory in Kikuyo, Kumamoto Prefecture
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 9, 2023
Japan set to earmark ¥2 trillion for chips in extra budget
Japan is in the midst of a spending spree to revive its chip industry with an aim to triple the sales of domestically produced semiconductors by 2030.
Wei Hsin-hsi and his wife pose for a picture outside their family’s temple that is located inside the proposed expansion area of an industrial park in the Longtan district of Taoyuan, in Taoyuan, Taiwan September 22, 2023. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 8, 2023
Taiwan's land squeeze pits advanced chips against ancestral temples
If TSMC shifts more production outside Taiwan, it could weaken the backbone of Taiwan's economy.
Fujio Mitarai, chief executive officer of Canon, during an interview in Tokyo on Oct. 30
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 6, 2023
Canon’s chipmaking technology promises advanced chips for less
The Tokyo-based firm’s new nano-imprint technology could open doors for smaller semiconductor manufacturers.
An assembly engineer works on a lithography system at chipmaker ASML in Veldhoven, Netherlands, on June 16.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Nov 2, 2023
How can the EU strengthen its strategic autonomy regarding chips?
The bloc has felt a sense of crisis over the fact that its growth strategy has been largely dependent on third countries.
The Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. headquarters in Taiwan
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 31, 2023
Taiwan's Powerchip chooses Miyagi Prefecture for $5.4 billion fab
The fab will manufacture chips in the 28-nanometer, 40-nm and 55-nm categories with a planned monthly output of 40,000 wafers, the two companies said.
Kioxia and Western Digital have held merger talks since 2021 but the negotiations have often stalled over a series of issues.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 27, 2023
Western Digital and Kioxia call off merger talks, source says
South Korea's SK Hynix — a major Kioxia investor — has said it does not back the deal due to its impact on its investment asset value.
Kokusai Electric's technology and manufacturing center in the city of Toyama
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 25, 2023
Kokusai Electric shares jump 28% in Tokyo debut
The stock closed at ¥2,350, valuing the company at ¥541.5 billion as investors grabbed shares following the IPO.
A rendered image of the completed Rapidus factory being built in Chitose, Hokkaido
BUSINESS / Tech / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Oct 23, 2023
Hokkaido waits to gauge impact from upcoming Rapidus chip plant
The nationally backed effort to revive Japan’s semiconductor industry has been called the region’s largest-ever development project.
An assembly engineer works on a TWINSCAN DUV lithography system at ASML in Veldhoven, Netherlands, in June.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 21, 2023
The multimillion-dollar machines at the center of the U.S.-China rivalry
Complex lithography machines that print intricate circuitry on computer chips are at the heart of Washington's tough new measures on Beijing.
Kioxia Holdings has approached Japan Investment Corp. about making a capital infusion to support its merger with Western Digital and strengthen the combined company’s financial base, according to people familiar with the matter.
BUSINESS
Oct 20, 2023
Kioxia has approached JIC to back Western Digital deal: sources
Kioxia’s lenders are working toward submitting a commitment letter as soon as possible to help facilitate the agreement.
The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. logo atop a building at the Hsinchu Science Park in Hsinchu, Taiwan
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 20, 2023
‘Sell TSMC, buy ASML’ gains traction as China-Taiwan risks grow
Because TSMC’s operations are mostly in Taiwan, it faces heightened geopolitical hazards. ASML, meanwhile, stands to benefit from the fragmentation.
China's ambitions to control the legacy chip market have implications for the world economy and Western nations are beginning to take countersteps.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 18, 2023
China's economic ambitions squeeze the developing world
While Chinese diplomats try to promote “win-win” solutions, Chinese policy is preventing developing-world partners from selling goods to China.
Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp.'s Japanese office in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 17, 2023
Taiwan's Powerchip considering five sites in Japan for factory
Powerchip announced in July that it was setting up a joint venture with financial firm SBI Holdings with the aim of securing government subsidies.

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