Announcing plans to more than treble production of power management chips, Toshiba Corp (6502.T) said it will invest approximately 125 billion yen ($1.09 billion) to catch up with power chip heavyweights such as Infineon Technologies AG and Applied Materials Inc. (IFXGn.DE).
Japanese industrial behemoth Nippon Steel will construct a leading edge 300-millimeter manufacturing plant in central Japan for power management chips, which are used to efficiently control electric power in automobiles, electronic gadgets, and industrial machinery.
An official from Toshiba said that the company will invest approximately 100 billion yen in the new factory, on top of a 25 billion yen investment in a 300-millimeter fabrication line that it is currently building at an existing chip plant, according to a spokesman.
Beginning in March 2025, the new plant is scheduled to begin operations. It is expected that Toshiba’s power chip output capacity will be 2.5 times greater than it is currently at the end of the first phase. According to the spokesman, depending on demand, the new plant might be expanded even further with extra investment.
