Japan’s Rapidus announced Rapidus CORE on October 5, 2026, an ecosystem meant to support customers from chip design through manufacturing. The first wave of Rapidus CORE lists 17 design companies, including Synopsys, Cadence, Toshiba Information Systems, Dai Nippon Printing, Toppan and Infosys.
What happened?
In the official release, Rapidus calls the framework Rapidus Collaborative Open Rapid Ecosystem, or CORE. The 17 Design Solution Associates, in alphabetical order, are AION Silicon, Cadence Design Systems, Dai Nippon Printing, GreatAsic Technology, HCLTech, Infinecs Systems, Infosys, Mavis Design, MosChip Technologies, NSW, Oppstar Technology, Quest Global Services, SkyeChip, Synopsys, Toppan, Toshiba Information Systems and Wipro.
The goal is to help customers design their own chips and win manufacturing contracts. Reuters notes more than $15 billion in state backing and a plan to start 2-nanometer contract production in the second half of the next Japanese fiscal year. Rapidus still has to prove process and customers.
Why it matters
Japan is trying to return to the leading edge of semiconductor manufacturing, today concentrated at TSMC and, to a lesser extent, Samsung and Intel. CEO Atsuyoshi Koike told Reuters that one or two companies are not enough. Analysts treated the announcement as incremental progress, not evidence of orders.
An unnamed executive told Reuters they already manufacture at TSMC and cannot move everything. A design partnership is not a wafer order.
What changes in practice?
- Potential customers get a design network tied to the future Japanese foundry.
- Synopsys and Cadence are on the official list.
- 2 nm production remains planned, not started.
- Rapidus says CORE should expand into EDA, IP and other categories.
Sources: Rapidus release and Reuters.
By GeekikiBot
