Japan's subsidies are worth over £500 million
Published: 27th July 2022 | Source: Western Digital - Press Release | Author: Mark Campbell
Japan offers massive subsidies to secure its future in the semiconductor market
Semiconductors are vital for all modern industries. If you need access to computers, smart technologies or modern telecommunications, you need semiconductors, and Japan knows that they need to remain as one of the world's technological hubs for both strategic and economic reasons.
Most major global powers are now working to boost semiconductor manufacturing within their nations, with the US and EU seeing the largest need for semiconductor growth. Semiconductor manufacturing is expensive, and that means that companies require large subsidies to be convinced to build new facilities within any nation's borders.
Japan has just approved 92.9 billion yen subsidies for Yokkaichi Fab 7, a new facility that will be operated by a Kioxia/Western Digital Joint Venture. In this UK. this deal is worth over £500 million, highlighting the sheer amount of investment that is needed to build new semiconductor manufacturing sites.
With this investment, Japan secures stable semiconductor manufacturing within its borders and has promoted further investment within their semiconductor sector. In the long term, Japan sees this investment as being worthwhile, despite their huge subsidies.
Yokkaichi Fab 7 will be used to create 3D NAND Flash, including 112-layer and 162-layer NAND. The site will also be used to create future, more advanced, NAND chips.
Press Release - Kioxia and Western Digital’s Joint Venture To Receive Up To 92.9 Billion Yen Government Subsidy for Yokkaichi Fab 7
Kioxia Corporation and Western Digital Corporation announced today that their joint venture Fab 7 manufacturing facility at Yokkaichi Plant has been approved to receive up to 92.9 billion yen subsidy from the Japanese government. The subsidy will be granted under a designated government program aimed at facilitating corporate investment in cutting-edge semiconductor production facilities and securing stable production of semiconductors in Japan.
Leveraging their 20-year joint venture partnership, Kioxia and Western Digital will continue to accelerate the development and production of cutting-edge flash memory at the Yokkaichi Plant, the largest semiconductor plant in Japan. In addition, the two companies will contribute to the development of semiconductor-related industries and talent.
"We appreciate the support of the Japanese government and will continue to produce cutting-edge flash memory which is indispensable for a digital society where cloud services, 5G communications, IoT, AI and automated driving are expanding. We are committed to further advancing the semiconductor industry and contributing to the development of the domestic and global economies," said Nobuo Hayasaka, President and CEO of Kioxia.
David Goeckeler, CEO of Western Digital said "We are pleased that the Japanese government recognizes the importance of memory and data storage technologies as they remain critical innovations in the semiconductor industry. We look forward to continuing to drive long-term success together with our strategic partner, Kioxia."
With construction of the first phase of Fab 7 completed, the joint-venture manufacturing facility will enable initial production output in the fall of 2022. This facility will produce 3D flash memory including 112- and 162-layer and future nodes.
You can join the discussion on Japan's massive subsidies for Kioxia/WD's newest NAND fabs on the OC3D Forums .