Jul. 09, 2025 –
Japanese semiconductor manufacturer Rapidus is aiming to achieve mass production of 2nm chips by 2027. The company is expected to deliver its first batch of sample wafers this July and will provide early design tools to customers to assist in the development of prototype products.
Mukesh Khare, head of IBM’s semiconductor R&D division and a key Rapidus partner, recently stated that IBM has dispatched about 10 engineers to Rapidus’s factory in Hokkaido, fully committed to supporting the company’s 2nm chip production efforts.
Khare also revealed that IBM expects to develop sub-1nm semiconductors in the coming years, and it is possible that Rapidus could serve as the manufacturing partner for these chips in the future.
TSMC is targeting mass production of 2nm chips in 2025, two years ahead of Rapidus. In response, Rapidus CEO Atsuyoshi Koike has stated publicly that the company does not intend to compete directly with TSMC. Rapidus does not pursue ultra-high-volume manufacturing, which is central to TSMC’s business model. Instead, Rapidus will focus on working closely with customers who require advanced chips tailored to specific needs rather than mass-produced general-purpose chips.
Industry sources also mention that Rapidus holds certain technical advantages compared to major players like TSMC. For instance, its fully automated advanced packaging technology allows integration of packaging and wafer processing within the same fab, potentially shortening production cycles. However, this feature will not be activated in the early phase, as the initial stage of the plant is limited to wafer prototyping and does not offer packaging or testing services.