Japanese Chipmaker Rapidus Sets Sight on Broadcom to Emulate Taiwan Semiconductor's Market Dominance

Broadcom Inc AVGO could soon avail 2-nm chip samples from Japan’s Rapidus starting in June.

The development marks the Japanese chipmaker’s efforts to emulate key contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s TSM strategy, which catapulted it into the trillion-dollar market cap, Nikkei Asia reports.

Prior reports indicated that International Business Machines Corp IBM and Rapidus are co-developing IBM’s 2-nm node technology for implementation at Rapidus’ fab in Japan.

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Rapidus is backed by Toyota Motor Corp TM, Sony Group Corp SONY, and six other Japanese companies

Lately, countries including the U.S., Europe, Japan, and others have focused on consolidating their semiconductor base to reduce dependence on China after the 2020 pandemic disrupted global supply chains, triggering a severe semiconductor chip crisis.

Over the past three years, Japan committed ~¥4 trillion ($26 billion) to boost its semiconductor sectors. Up to ¥920 billion of the subsidy went to Rapidus to help produce advanced chips.

Taiwan Semiconductor already has a 2-nm wafer plant in Baoshan, Hsinchu County, scheduled for mass production in 2025.

Taiwan Semiconductor Chair C.C. Wei had highlighted interest in its 2-nm process, which prompted it to ramp up production capacity.

Taiwan Semiconductor’s additional facilities in Kaohsiung will likely start 2-nm production in 2026. It is constructing two advanced fabs in Arizona, with plans to commercialize chips using 3-nm and 2-nm processes in 2028.

Meanwhile, Broadcom, which emerged as the most valuable chip company after Nvidia Corp NVDA, is set for a $150 billion AI opportunity per JPMorgan’s Harlan Sur.

This opportunity is backed by its 2-nm and 3-nm technology and strong partnerships with Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL Google, and Meta Platforms Inc META. Broadcom bagged multi-generational AI ASIC programs with OpenAI and a fifth major customer, all set for a 2026 ramp-up.

Wedbush’s Dan Ives expects tech stocks to gain 25% in 2025, backed by President-elect Donald Trump’s policies and Big Tech spending.

Investors can gain exposure to semiconductor stocks through VanEck Semiconductor ETF SMH and iShares Semiconductor ETF SOXX.

Price Action: AVGO stock closed at $228.64 on Wednesday.

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