Hardware Podcasts

Episode 124: The State of The Japanese Semiconductor Industry

The Circuit · 1 Jul 2025 · 43m · Episode 125

What this episode covers

Professor John Metzler from UC Berkeley discusses the state of the Japanese semiconductor industry following recent trips to Japan, focusing on the construction of the Rapidus fab in Hokkaido and the operational TSMC facility in Kumamoto. He analyzes Rapidus's unique business model as a flexible logic foundry betting on GAA technology, while highlighting significant challenges in talent acquisition and the broader shift toward silicon photonics. The conversation also covers the role of Japanese government agencies like METI and the strategic positioning of companies such as Sony, Tokyo Electron, and Renesas in the global supply chain.

Most relevant to

companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Rapidus, TSMC, Sony, Tokyo Electron, Renesas, NTT, Intel, METI, UC Berkeley, IBM, Samsung, GlobalFoundries, Foxconn, BYD, Tesla, Kajima, Saconda, Edge Cortex, Fujitsu, NVIDIA

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