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Japan’s state-backed chipmaker Rapidus is assembling a 17-company design-support network as it tries to attract customers for its planned advanced-chip factory, a critical test of a government-backed effort to revive the country’s semiconductor industry. The announcement, made on October 5, 2026, includes U.S. chip-design software companies Synopsys and Cadence Design Systems, India’s Infosys and other international and Japanese firms.
Rapidus aims to begin contract production of 2-nanometer chips in the second half of fiscal 2027. The new partners are intended to help prospective customers develop chip designs for the company’s manufacturing process; their participation does not, by itself, establish that any of them—or their clients—will place production orders.
The distinction matters because Rapidus has received about $15 billion in Japanese state backing, according to Reuters, while its commercial prospects depend on filling factory capacity and demonstrating that its process can be produced reliably. The company is seeking a position in a market led by established manufacturers with extensive experience and existing customer relationships.
Design partnerships aim to lower barriers for customers
Rapidus said the 17 firms form the first phase of a wider framework called Rapidus CORE, short for Collaborative Open Rapid Ecosystem. Its designated Design Solution Associates are intended to connect customers with engineering and design expertise as they develop chips for Rapidus’s foundry.
The group includes Synopsys and Cadence, whose design tools are used in semiconductor development, as well as Infosys. Rapidus’s announcement also names companies from Japan and other countries, including Toshiba Information Systems, DNP, TOPPAN, Wipro and Malaysia-based firms. The company describes the network as support for the development and eventual mass production of advanced semiconductors.
Such assistance addresses one part of the customer-acquisition challenge: designing a chip for a new manufacturing process requires engineering work before production can begin. But a design-support arrangement is not the same as a confirmed customer commitment or a commercial order, and neither Rapidus nor Reuters identified a new production customer in connection with the announcement.
Factory timeline puts pressure on execution
Rapidus was founded in 2022 and is working with IBM on its advanced-process development. Reuters reported that the company has started pilot operations and says preparations for mass production are proceeding on schedule. The targeted start for 2-nanometer contract production is the second half of the next fiscal year, which in Japan begins in April.
Moving from pilot activity to viable high-volume production is a significant step. IwaiCosmo Securities analyst Kazuyoshi Saito told Reuters that operating a fab continuously while maintaining consistent yields and commercially viable output is difficult, noting that even Samsung has faced challenges. The article did not report production yields or disclose a confirmed customer roster.
Rapidus chief executive Atsuyoshi Koike told Reuters that he believes demand can support another leading-edge manufacturer. He argued that one or two companies would not be enough to meet the market’s needs. But the company’s ability to convert that prospective demand into orders remains unresolved.
Competition includes established foundries
Rapidus faces Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Samsung Electronics and Intel in the contest to manufacture leading-edge chips. TSMC has a long record in contract manufacturing and dominates the advanced foundry market; Samsung had already begun producing 2-nanometer chips, Reuters reported.
Omdia analyst Akira Minamikawa told Reuters that some customers could consider alternatives if they cannot obtain sufficient capacity from TSMC, including companies whose orders are smaller or lower priority. A separate, unnamed executive told Reuters that switching production is risky: a company already relying on TSMC cannot assume it could readily return if a new supplier’s process falls short.
That caution highlights why design partnerships alone may not settle the commercial question. Customers must weigh access to an alternative source against the technical and business risks of adopting a process whose production record is still being established.
National strategy and financial horizon
Japan’s semiconductor ambitions extend beyond one factory. The country’s share of the global semiconductor market has fallen from about 50% in the 1980s to less than 10% today, Reuters reported. A successful advanced foundry could support domestic supply-chain resilience and create demand for Japanese semiconductor materials and equipment suppliers, though those broader benefits depend on execution.
Reuters reported that Rapidus is targeting an initial public offering around the fiscal year ending March 2032. Lawmaker Daishiro Yamagiwa, who leads the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s parliamentary group on chip strategy, also described a public listing and U.S. manufacturing operations as possibilities—not confirmed plans.
For now, the next stated milestone is Rapidus’s planned 2-nanometer production start in the second half of fiscal 2027. The October 5 announcement adds design-support partners to the effort, but the number and identity of future customers, factory output and the path to profitable operations remain unsettled.
