SBI Holdings announced on Friday the dissolution of its partnership with Taiwan’s Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. to build a chip factory in Miyagi Prefecture.
The ailing major Taiwanese foundry said maintaining the connection was becoming too difficult, SBI said.
But the Japanese online financial group promised to implement the semiconductor factory project by finding new partners.
In 2023, SBI, PSMC and the Miyagi Prefectural Government reached a basic agreement to build a chip factory in Ohira village with the help of central government subsidies and aim to launch semiconductor production, mainly for cars, in 2027.
“We are sorry for the parting with PSMC, but we want to launch a semiconductor company in Miyagi that is bigger than initially planned,” SBI said.
Miyagi Governor Yoshihiro Murai said: “I couldn’t believe the dissolution of the partnership for a while, as I had been closely watching the trust relationship between the two companies since the prefecture started promoting the construction of the factory.”
