Rapidus aims to mass-produce 1.4 nm chips in 2029

Rapidus, Japan's surprise entrant in the semiconductor manufacturing race, plans to keep up with TSMC and Intel in the sub-2 nm race. A report from Nikkei Asia claims it intends to mass-produce 1.4 nm chips as early as 2029, just two years after its first 2 nm node is set to enter mass production.

The endeavour will supposedly cost Rapidus several trillion yen, with a majority of the funds to come from the Japanese government and private investors. Full-scale research and development for 1.4 nm will start sometime in 2026 in partnership with IBM.

While Rapidus' 2 nm chip has already taped out, there is no word about its mass production capabilities yet. The company plans to deploy ten ASML EUV scanners, of which five will likely be earmarked for 2 nm and the remaining for next-gen nodes. At the time of writing, Rapidus does not have any confirmed clients, but that information is seldom public, more so for an upcoming player.

If Rapidus' 1.4 nm node enters mass production by 2029, it will still be a year behind TSMC's A14 node, which is scheduled to kick off in 2028. Meanwhile, Intel 14A is expected to show up a year earlier, around the same time as Samsung Foundry's SF1.4. If all goes well, OEMs will have three additional foundries at their disposal, significantly reducing the reliance on TSMC.