Reports in the Japanese media suggest that Japan's chip manufacturer Rapidus aims to provide AI chip designer Broadcom with 2-nanometer chip samples as soon as this June. Taiwan's TSMC and South Korea's Samsung are the only firms capable of manufacturing 2-nanometer chips right now, and both of them are yet to start mass production. Sources quoted by The Nikkei report that Rapidus is working with US firm IBM to produce 2-nanometer chips, and the latest information follows an earlier report in November of Rapidus receiving Japan's first EUV machines from the Dutch chip manufacturer ASML.
TSMC, Samsung Face Competition As Japanese Chip Maker Aims To Enter 2-nanometer Chip Manufacturing Market
TSMC is currently slated to start 2-nanometer mass production later this year with the first chips available in products in 2026. When compared to TSMC's 3-nanometer manufacturing process, products manufactured with the 2-nanometer node have smaller feature sizes and a new transistor design.
The 3-nanometer products feature a FinFET transistor design, while TSMC will use a new nanosheet transistor design in the 2-nanometer chips. Nanosheets increase the contact area between a transistor's gate and source, reducing leakage to improve overall power efficiency and performance.
Like TSMC, Samsung's 2-nanometer products will also use an upgraded transistor design. Samsung will use gate-all-around-FinFET (GAAFET) transistors for its 2-nanometer products. The firm has developed these in partnership with IBM, and its 2-nanometer products are also expected to enter mass production later this year after it installed chip manufacturing machines in Q4 2024.
Since scaling up chip production is a slow process, firms like TSMC gradually scale production and cater to the demands of their strongest customers. Naturally, this creates a gap between the supply and demand for chips manufactured using the latest technologies. Japan's Rapidus appears to be attempting to capitalize on this shortfall as it is aiming to start 2-nanometer sample production in April.
It also aims to send the first samples to Broadcom in June. Broadcom's shares soared by 38% in December after it surprised investors with its AI chip plans. CEO Hock Tan outlined that his firm aims to ship as many as one million AI chips by 2027 to earn anywhere between $60 billion to $90 in its fiscal year 2027.
Rapidus also appears to be targeting this expected boom in the demand for AI chips. While it is planning to ship 2-nanometer samples to Broadcom, the firm aims to start 2-nanometer production in 2027. Mega fabs like TSMC enjoy the advantage of not only significant resources but also expertise, which lets them regularly upgrade their technologies and smoothly churn out the latest chips.
The Japanese firm, backed by eight Japanese firms, including Toyota and Sony, also aims to expand its inventory of ASML's advanced EUV chip manufacturing machines. These machines are indispensable for manufacturing the latest chips. To facilitate Rapdius, ASML is also expected to open a new service center in Japan.
