Samsung Electronics is set to establish an advanced semiconductor packaging research and development (R&D) base in Yokohama, Japan. The company plans to invest 40 billion yen into this area by 2028.
The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, along with the city of Yokohama, announced on Dec. 21 that Samsung Electronics would establish the Advanced Package Lab (APL) in the Minatomirai 21 district of Yokohama. The Japanese government, led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, revealed this development at a public-private partnership forum convened to discuss semiconductor investment strategies. The government announced its support to Samsung with a grant of 20 billion yen, covering half of the total investment.
Samsung Electronics’ Yokohama R&D base is expected to become a global hub for developing next-generation packaging technologies that enhance chip performance by stacking them in three dimensions. This location will focus on research in post-processing packaging technologies for semiconductors used in artificial intelligence and 5th generation mobile communications (5G).
Collaboration with Japanese semiconductor material and equipment suppliers is a key role of the Yokohama R&D base. According to the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Samsung Electronics plans to develop advanced semiconductor technologies jointly with Japanese material and equipment companies. To this end, the company is expected to hire over 100 semiconductor experts locally by 2027.
Japan is home to leading semiconductor companies, including the world’s fourth-largest semiconductor equipment manufacturer, Tokyo Electron (TEL), and prominent corporations like Canon, TDK, and Murata Manufacturing. These companies supply Samsung Electronics and SK hynix with numerous products, including etching equipment for drawing semiconductor circuit patterns. Samsung is ranked at the top in the advanced semiconductor packaging field, along with TSMC and Intel.
The importance of packaging processes in enhancing chip performance is increasingly recognized in the semiconductor industry. Samsung Electronics is expected to strengthen its technological competitiveness through its Yokohama base.
Japan, too, is poised to enhance its competitiveness with Samsung Electronics’ investment. This move is part of Japan’s efforts to revitalize its semiconductor industry, attracting foreign investments, including those in DRAM (Micron) and NAND flash (Kioxia), foundry services (LAPIS Semiconductor and TSMC), and now an advanced post-processing packaging base.
The cooperation between South Korea and Japan has rapidly evolved into a collaborative atmosphere following an agreement to strengthen the semiconductor supply chain made by President Yoon Suk-yeol and Prime Minister Kishida in a summit last May. Initially, Samsung Electronics planned to invest 30 billion yen, but the investment and the Japanese government’s subsidy increased due to Japan’s active persuasion. The Japanese government is also supporting Taiwan’s TSMC with a subsidy of 4 trillion won, covering half the cost of its new plant in Kumamoto.