By Lisa Wang /
Staff reporter
Materials Analysis Technology Inc (MA-tek, 閎康) yesterday said revenue from Japan would double this year from last year, thanks to growing demand from Japanese state-backed chip venture Rapidus Corp.
MA-tek’s remarks came as Rapidus makes progress on its first chip manufacturing factory in Chitose, Hokkaido.
A pilot production of next-generation chips began yesterday, the Japanese company said.
Photo: CNA
Rapidus, founded in 2022, aims to ramp up production of 2-nanometer chips in 2027.
“We were told to work on the projects from this company [Rapidus] in June this year, ahead of the original schedule in 2026,” MA-tek chairwoman Hsieh Yong-fen (謝詠芬) told reporters in Taipei.
“Demand from Japan is really strong. We originally expected revenue from Japan to grow 40 percent. Now we are looking at a 100 percent increase,” Hsieh said.
As a result, MA-tek — which specializes in materials analysis, failure and reliability analyses for chipmakers and equipment vendors — expects Japan to contribute a bigger share, or about 15 percent of the company’s total revenue this year, compared with 10 percent last year, she said.
Taiwan and China accounted for 45 percent of revenue last year.
The growth momentum from Japan would help drive the company’s revenue this year to a record high from NT$5.11 billion last year, she added.
MA-tek operates three laboratories in Japan, including the latest one in Hokkaido, which focuses on providing material analysis for artificial intelligence (AI) chips.
The other two laboratories are in Kumamoto and Nagoya.
MA-tek introduced its most advanced analysis equipment, a Cs-corrected scanning transmission electron microscope, to provide advanced material analysis and failure analysis for contract chipmakers, and advanced chip packagers and testers, assisting customers in accelerating the mass production of 2-nanometer chips.
Numerous customers from Europe and the US including a US autonomous vehicle maker have shown interest in the machine, MA-tek said.
The scanning transmission electron microscope costs US$5 million, about three times higher than traditional equipment, given its ultra-high resolution and suitability for analyzing AI chips and vehicle chips, the company said.
AloJapan.com