Rapidus Forms 17-Company Design Alliance in $15B Race for 2-nm Fab Customers

State-backed chipmaker Rapidus has partnered with 17 companies, including Synopsys and Infosys, to assist potential customers with semiconductor design. The $15B initiative is racing to lock in clients before launching 2-nm contract chip production in the second half of the next fiscal year. The venture aims to recapture Japan's lost semiconductor dominance, which plummeted from about 50% global market share in the 1980s to less than 10% today. Rapidus is currently running pilot operations with IBM but faces severe technological hurdles in maintaining stable yields against established giants like TSMC, Samsung, and Intel. Executives have floated a long-term goal of an initial public offering by the financial year ending March 2032, alongside potential US manufacturing expansion to secure further capital. "The biggest question for Rapidus is still who will actually fill the fab." — Nori Chiou