Japan's Socionext Unveils Advanced Chip Collaboration With TSMC, Arm

(Bloomberg) -- Socionext Inc. had its biggest intraday jump on record after announcing plans for advanced 2-nanometer chips in 2025, which would be targeted at data center, 5G wireless infrastructure, and network-edge applications.

The Yokohama-based company is collaborating with Arm Holdings Plc and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., it said in a statement on Wednesday. Its shares jumped as much as 16% shortly after the announcement. Engineering samples of its 32-core chip, which would use TSMC’s next-generation fabrication tech, are targeted to be available in the first half of 2025.

"I believe that the company’s global profile will increase," said Yugo Tsuboi, a senior strategist at Daiwa Securities in Tokyo. While it's not yet clear if this will have a significant impact on earnings, many people now hold high expectations, he said.

Socionext was well received at its initial public offering a year ago, when it rose 15% in its Tokyo debut. Its shares have more than tripled since then, with major shareholders Panasonic Holdings Corp. and the Development Bank of Japan offloading their holdings in the summer when shares were at their peak.

The company develops customized systems-on-chips for clients across the consumer, automotive and industrial fields. Apple Inc.'s Silicon processors and Qualcomm Inc.'s Snapdragon line are mass-market examples of such logic processors, often referred to as the brains of electronic devices. Enterprise customers increasingly seek bespoke, application-specific chips and Socionext competes with Taiwan's Faraday Technology Corp., Alchip Technologies Ltd. and Global Unichip Corp. to fill that demand.