Japanese chip industry in jeopardy without a national policy

摘要

Japan consumes more silicon wafers than anyone else in the world. But its semiconductor sales don't match this consumption level. This small market share despite big production capacity indicates just how dependent Japan has become on selling low-priced chips. Japan ran 35.1% of the world's wafers in 1999, but sold only 28.9% of the world's semiconductors, by value, according to figures from Gartner Group and Dataquest (see figure). Those sales figures include the chips the Japanese companies made in other countries, so the real gap between the volume of wafers used and the value of chips sold is even greater.