Renesas resumes production at fire-hit chip plant: reports

Japanese chip manufacturer Renesas on Saturday restarted production about a month after a factory fire that threatens to worsen a global chip shortage, local media said.

The fire on March 19 at its plant near Tokyo came with car makers already battling semiconductor supply problems, in part because of increased demand for chips from manufacturers of laptops, tablets and gaming devices.

Renesas Electronics, a key supplier of automotive semiconductors, saw 600 square metres (6,500 square feet) of factory floor damaged in the blaze.

The company said on April 10 it completed repairs in the fire-hit cleanrooms and they came online for initial output.

Jiji Press and other news reports said the firm partially began production Saturday morning, with plans to ship initial products in about a month.

Immediate confirmation of the reports was not available.

Renesas has so far hoped to restart operations at the factory unit producing 300 mm wafers -- a key piece of tech for modern cars -- in around a month.

But the plant will not return to 100 percent capacity for "between 90 days to 120 days", CEO Hidetoshi Shibata said late last month.

Company officials were tight-lipped about which of their customers would get early supplies of semiconductors, and also said it would take more time to pinpoint the cause of the fire.

With the blaze sparking concern about the impact on the world's chip supply, Japan's government and some of Renesas's own customers, including auto giant Toyota, have offered help.

During a summit on Friday in Washington, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and President Joe Biden agreed to "partner on sensitive supply chains, including on semiconductors, promoting and protecting the critical technologies that are essential to our security and prosperity," according to their joint statement.

si/jfx

RENESAS ELECTRONICS

TOYOTA MOTOR

Related Links
Computer Chip Architecture, Technology and Manufacture
Nano Technology News From SpaceMart.com

Tweet

Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.

SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly

paypal only

SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once

credit card or paypal

Qubits comprised of holes could be the trick to build faster, larger quantum computers
Sydney, Australia (SPX) Apr 02, 2021
A new study indicates holes the solution to operational speed/coherence trade-off, potential scaling up of qubits to a mini-quantum computer. Quantum computers are predicted to be much more powerful and functional than today's 'classical' computers. One way to make a quantum bit is to use the 'spin' of an electron, which can point either up or down. To make quantum computers as fast and power-efficient as possible we would like to operate them using only electric fields, which are applied us ... read more