How Rapidus is supporting U.S. based customers and others across the globe, and why Rapidus will succeed. The best is yet to come!

In April 2024, Henri Richard, a veteran semiconductor executive, came out of retirement to lead Rapidus Design Solutions (RDS), Rapidus' U.S. subsidiary, to support customers and partners. Being able to help revitalize Japan's semiconductor industry, while bringing leading-edge node capacity to a new country, was an opportunity too good to pass up.
Since establishing its presence in the Silicon Valley, RDS has been working with customer prospects on their advanced semiconductor needs, while also establishing new partnerships with leading EDA and design companies.
We spoke to RDS General Manager and President, Henri Richard, about coming out of retirement to join Rapidus, its presence in the Silicon Valley, Rapidus' work with partners and customers and why our foundry will be successful.

Career journey and decision to join Rapidus

―― Henri, with your extensive 40+ years of experience in the tech industries, can you tell us what led you to join Rapidus?

I've been in this industry for more than 30 years, and even though I was retired, I kept an eye on how quickly it was changing, powered by the wave of AI. When [Rapidus CEO] Koike-san reconnected with me and explained to me in detail about the Rapidus opportunity, I was immediately enthusiastic, because first, it answers the fundamental changes that are happening in the industry.

Second, my experience with Koike-san, when we worked together at Sandisk, led me to be certain that Rapidus would be world-class in execution. It's a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity. This massive industrial complex in Japan, who was once a dominant force in the semiconductor industry, had kind of faded away and is coming back at the leading edge. How can you say no to such an opportunity?

―― Compared to your experience at other major U.S. tech companies, how do you view the significance and uniqueness of being involved with Rapidus and a cutting-edge semiconductor project originating from Japan?

Rapidus is particularly unique in the sense that while it will represent all of the traditional values of Japan - quality, execution and reliability - Koike-san is a unique executive with a true international mindset. In fact, in our early conversations, he made it very clear that we needed to be an international company.

So to me, it's really exciting to see the combination of everything that Japan has to bring to the world with an international mindset being based in the Silicon Valley.

Reactions from U.S. companies during conversations

―― In your conversations with major Silicon Valley tech companies, what were their initial reactions when they first heard the name Rapidus and more about our important mission? How has this changed over the years?

I would say we see three types of fundamental reactions. First, and probably the most important, hope. Customers are really, really wanting us to succeed. And we'll talk more about that later. There are so many good reasons for the need of a company like Rapidus.

Second, of course, surprise, because this was kept a secret for quite some time. And when we finally came to the market, people didn't expect Rapidus.

Lastly, a little bit of doubt because everybody recognizes that it's been very difficult to be at the leading edge. So customers are waiting to see if we can execute our grandiose plan.

To the second part of this question, what's happening is that fortunately, because of the quality of execution that's traditional to Japan, we have basically hit all of our milestones. So for every new milestone that we deliver on, the customers are getting more comfortable with the vision of Rapidus being a success.

―― What have potential U.S. customers found particularly impressive or interesting about the work Rapidus is doing?

Well, of course, the first fundamental trait of IIM is the single wafer processing concept. This is definitely generating a lot of interest, a lot of questions and a lot of excitement.

The fast turnaround time is obviously extremely beneficial, particularly in this world of AI with a lot of startups competing for time-to-market. Then, we also have this concept of integrating the front-end and the back-end processes, which is novel, and with the evolution of the challenges in developing semiconductors, a very important aspect of what we offer.

―― Compared to existing foundries, what Rapidus differentiators stand out to potential U.S. customers?

Well, the industry challenges are really what's driving these expectations. First, of course, geographical diversification. There is a high concentration, specifically at the leading-edge node, with a single player. Customers are looking for alternatives.

But also, a different business model, a more collaborative model that allows customers to take advantage of a new set of AI tools to develop their chips faster. Lastly, as I mentioned before, this linkage between front-end and back-end processes, in the designing and enhancement of existing technologies. These two worlds, which used to be somewhat separate, one is a nanometer world, the other one is a micron world. Well, they're going to need to talk to each other very intricately to resolve the most challenging issues that are facing chip designers. These are the attributes that really make us special for customers.

Expectations for Rapidus

―― What are the specific value propositions that U.S. tech companies are looking for in their advanced foundry partners? Which aspects are prioritized: cost, speed, technology or economic security?

Obviously, every customer has a different approach and a different hierarchy in those factors. I would say that performance remains extremely important because we're at the leading edge node. There is not a lot of room for compromise around the performance.

The geographical diversification is obviously a great asset, but that in itself is not enough. I believe that one of the most interesting elements of our future partnerships will be the fact that we had the good fortune to start from a clean sheet of paper. IIM is not a traditional foundry. It will enable a level of innovation and a speed of innovation for customers that transcends geography, node size, or even cost.

―― From the perspective of supply chain diversification, how do U.S. companies view Rapidus?

This is a subject that's evolving, I would say, weekly. Obviously, as of late, there's been a lot of news about sovereignty, manufacturing and geographies.

Initially, customers are really looking for other ways to get access to leading-edge technology. With Japan being a traditional partner of the United States, this is seen as a very interesting option. But this is a situation that will continue to evolve over the next few years. I feel confident that by the time we're in mass production, there will be a lot of demand for our technology in the United States and abroad.

Current vision and goal

―― What is your long-term vision for Rapidus' presence in the Silicon Valley and how does Rapidus Design Solutions plan to contribute to this growth?

The role of RDS, is first and foremost, to support Rapidus' customers. What's happening, though, that's interesting is that customers' needs and expectations are evolving. We see a new breed of companies that require semiconductors, particularly in the AI space, to execute their business plan, but they are not interested in becoming semiconductor experts.

For these companies, the partnerships that they're establishing with foundry partners really require the partner to orchestrate not only the manufacturing, but also the design cycles and the evolution of the designs. I believe that the depth of partnership that customers are going to be looking for in the Silicon Valley is going to be quite different and evolve very quickly over the next few years.

As a result, RDS' role will evolve as well. I see us not only as a traditional support organization, but also as an entity that will help create a very rich ecosystem that will allow customers to solve their problems faster.

―― We talked a lot about the hope and mission of Rapidus. When do you see this really coming to market?

Well, obviously, all it will take for us to go from the bright new project to a reality for our customers is one chip in the market with good quality, good performance and reasonable cost. Because we've been executing our plan, this is scheduled by the end of 2027.

―― What message do you have for our global readers?

Keep your eye on Rapidus. We are doing something unique at a very fast speed. That's the name of the company. We have pretty much everyone in this industry, and, I would be as bold to say, even our competitors, hoping for our success. So the best is yet to come.