TOKYO—
Toyota
Motor Corp. and
Sony
Group Corp., together with six other Japanese companies, are creating a new business to design and make next-generation semiconductors by the late 2020s.
The venture, called Rapidus, Latin for “rapid,” comes amid rising competition among major economies for advanced chips to support applications such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing.
Toyota, Sony and chip companies Kioxia Holdings Corp. and
Tokyo Electron Ltd.
, as well as
SoftBank Group Corp.
, have each contributed about one billion yen, around $7 million, to create the venture, the Japanese government said Friday.
A research center for the new business will be set up this year, the government said.
Sony, Toyota and the six other companies are using Rapidus to diversify and strengthen Japan’s chip supply chains.
Photo:
Akio Kon/Bloomberg News
“As the struggle for control of technology between the U.S. and China intensifies, the importance of semiconductors is increasing from the perspective of economic security,” Economy Minister
Yasutoshi Nishimura
said.
Japan, once a global leader in semiconductor manufacturing, has fallen far behind the U.S. and Taiwan. Tokyo sees that as a national security concern—as well as a problem for local manufacturers—especially car makers that increasingly rely on advanced chip technologies to support features such as autonomous driving.
Industry analysts say global chip shortages are likely to continue through the better part of the decade because of competition for leading-edge semiconductors across many industries.
Major economies like the U.S. and China are all pouring in government money to enhance domestic chip production.
For Toyota, in particular, the investment is a way for it to become more involved in its chip supply chain—working directly on processes such as circuit design that have, in the past, typically been handled by semiconductor companies. A spokeswoman for Toyota said the company invested in Rapidus to “support future in-vehicle needs.”
Earlier this month, Toyota trimmed its annual production target for cars by 500,000 vehicles, citing the risk of ongoing semiconductor shortages.
Nissan Motor Co.
and
Honda Motor Co.
also cut their unit sales forecasts for the fiscal year ending March.
More recently, the U.S.-China clash over chips has further heightened concerns from companies about whether they will be able to secure stable supplies.
—Chieko Tsuneoka contributed to this article.
Write to Yang Jie at jie.yang@wsj.com and River Davis at river.davis@wsj.com
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
TOKYO—
Toyota
Motor Corp. and
Sony
Group Corp., together with six other Japanese companies, are creating a new business to design and make next-generation semiconductors by the late 2020s.
The venture, called Rapidus, Latin for “rapid,” comes amid rising competition among major economies for advanced chips to support applications such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing.
Toyota, Sony and chip companies Kioxia Holdings Corp. and
Tokyo Electron Ltd.
, as well as
SoftBank Group Corp.
, have each contributed about one billion yen, around $7 million, to create the venture, the Japanese government said Friday.
A research center for the new business will be set up this year, the government said.
Sony, Toyota and the six other companies are using Rapidus to diversify and strengthen Japan’s chip supply chains.
Photo:
Akio Kon/Bloomberg News
“As the struggle for control of technology between the U.S. and China intensifies, the importance of semiconductors is increasing from the perspective of economic security,” Economy Minister
Yasutoshi Nishimura
said.
Japan, once a global leader in semiconductor manufacturing, has fallen far behind the U.S. and Taiwan. Tokyo sees that as a national security concern—as well as a problem for local manufacturers—especially car makers that increasingly rely on advanced chip technologies to support features such as autonomous driving.
Industry analysts say global chip shortages are likely to continue through the better part of the decade because of competition for leading-edge semiconductors across many industries.
Major economies like the U.S. and China are all pouring in government money to enhance domestic chip production.
For Toyota, in particular, the investment is a way for it to become more involved in its chip supply chain—working directly on processes such as circuit design that have, in the past, typically been handled by semiconductor companies. A spokeswoman for Toyota said the company invested in Rapidus to “support future in-vehicle needs.”
Earlier this month, Toyota trimmed its annual production target for cars by 500,000 vehicles, citing the risk of ongoing semiconductor shortages.
Nissan Motor Co.
and
Honda Motor Co.
also cut their unit sales forecasts for the fiscal year ending March.
More recently, the U.S.-China clash over chips has further heightened concerns from companies about whether they will be able to secure stable supplies.
—Chieko Tsuneoka contributed to this article.
Write to Yang Jie at jie.yang@wsj.com and River Davis at river.davis@wsj.com
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8