SBI to end plant construction tie-up with Taiwanese chipmaker

SBI Holdings announced Friday the dissolution of its partnership with Taiwan’s Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. for the construction of a chip factory in Miyagi Prefecture.
The ailing major Taiwanese foundry has told that maintaining the tie-up became too difficult, SBI said.
But the Japanese online financial group vowed to carry out the semiconductor plant project by finding new partners.
In 2023, SBI, PSMC and the Miyagi Prefectural Government came up with a basic agreement to construct a chipmaking plant in the village of Ohira using central government subsidies and aiming to launch production of semiconductors chiefly for automobiles in 2027.
“We are sorry for the breakup with PSMC, but we want to launch a semiconductor business in Miyagi that is bigger than initially planned,” SBI said.
Miyagi Gov. Yoshihiro Murai said, “I could not believe for a while the dissolution of the tie-up, as I had watched the relationship of trust between the two companies closely since the prefecture started promoting the plant construction.”