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History

Japan's Semiconductor Industry: Decline and Revival

Japanese companies held 50.3% of global semiconductor sales in 1988 and 10.0% in 2019, according to METI. This page follows the decline through the industry's reorganizations and the revival effort that began in 2021.

From half the market to a tenth

In METI's figures, the global semiconductor market kept growing while the share held by Japanese companies fell from 50.3% in 1988 to 10.0% in 2019. Over the same period Japan's chipmakers went through a series of mergers, sales and exits, some of which are listed in the timeline below.

Share of global semiconductor sales held by Japanese companies
1988
50.3%
2019
10%
Source: METI, November 2021

Timeline

Key events in Japan's semiconductor industry
  1. 01 · 1988
    Japan at its peak
    Japanese companies held 50.3% of global semiconductor sales.
  2. 02 · 1999
    DRAM merger
    NEC and Hitachi combined their DRAM units into the company later named Elpida Memory.
  3. 03 · 2010
    Renesas begins operating
    The chip businesses of NEC, Hitachi and Mitsubishi Electric came together as Renesas.
  4. 04 · 2013
    Micron acquires Elpida
    Japan's DRAM fab in Hiroshima became Micron Memory Japan.
  5. 05 · 2019
    Share falls to 10%
    Toshiba Memory was renamed Kioxia the same year.
  6. 06 · 2021
    Revival strategy
    METI published a semiconductor strategy, and JASM was established in Kumamoto.
  7. 07 · 2022
    Rapidus founded
    Rapidus was founded to make 2 nm logic chips in Japan.
  8. 08 · 2024
    JASM starts production
    JASM's first fab began production in December, and a Cabinet decision in November set more than 10 trillion yen of AI and semiconductor support through fiscal 2030.
Source: METI and company sources linked on each page

What remained strong

While Japan's share of chip sales fell, its equipment and materials makers kept large positions: about 31% of global equipment sales and about 48% of key materials in METI's fiscal 2021 figures. See Japan's market share.

The revival effort

Since 2021 the government has subsidized new fabs by TSMC's JASM, Micron and Kioxia, funded Rapidus's 2 nm project, and set a goal of more than 15 trillion yen in domestic chip sales by 2030. See Japan's semiconductor subsidies and semiconductor fabs in Japan.

Sources

  1. METI: New direction of digital industry policy (November 2021, Japanese)
  2. METI: Semiconductor and Digital Industry Strategy (July 2023), based on OMDIA data for FY2021
  3. METI: Current situation of the semiconductor and digital industries (December 23, 2025)
  4. METI: certified specified semiconductor production facility plans (list of maximum subsidies)
  5. Wikipedia (Japanese): Micron Memory Japan (Elpida Memory)
  6. Wikipedia: Renesas Electronics
  7. Wikipedia: Kioxia
  8. TSMC: TSMC Celebrates the Opening of JASM in Kumamoto, Japan
  9. Wikipedia: Rapidus

More on this topic

Japan's semiconductor policy

Last updated: October 22, 2026