According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, local time on the early morning of August 19, Japan's northern Ibaraki Prefecture two earthquakes occurred: around 0:48, the northern Ibaraki Prefecture 4.7 earthquake, the largest earthquake felt 4; Around 0:50, a 5.1 magnitude earthquake occurred in the area, with the largest tremor being felt at a magnitude of 5.

Since the Naco plant of Renesas Electronics, a major maker of semiconductor automotive chips, is located near the epicenter of the earthquake, the industry is also concerned about whether the earthquake will have an impact on Renesas Electronics business.

In this regard, Renesas Electronics responded on the evening of August 19 that factory production was not affected. According to a press release from Renesas, buildings, utilities and production equipment at the Renesas Electronics Naco plant (Ibaraki Prefecture), located near the epicenter, were not damaged. Although some equipment stopped operation, the production of the plant was not affected.

Renesas said that as of August 19, Renesas Electronics has not received any reports on the impact of the earthquake on Renesas Electronics' overall supply chain, including suppliers and partner companies.

Data show that the Naco factory located in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, is Renesas Electronics' main semiconductor production base. According to Nikkei Chinese reported in May 2023, in response to the surge in demand for MCU chips driven by the popularity of electric vehicles, Renesas Electronics plans to further increase the production capacity of automotive semiconductor MCU chips by 10% from the current level before 2026, and plans to invest about 48 billion yen in three factories in Japan and introduce production equipment.

According to the report, Renesas Electronics plans to introduce 40nm MCU microcontroller manufacturing equipment to its Nako plant in Ibaraki Prefecture by February 2025, 130nm MCU manufacturing equipment to its Kawajiri plant in Kumamoto Prefecture by March 2025, and the restarted Kafu plant will also introduce film-forming manufacturing equipment by August 2026.

In terms of production capacity, it is reported that the newly imported manufacturing equipment at the Nake plant and the Kafu plant can produce 10,000 wafers per month (converted from 12-inch silicon wafers), and the Kawajiri plant can produce 29,100 wafers per month (converted from 8-inch silicon wafers). With the conversion of 8-inch wafers, the new equipment of the above three plants is equivalent to more than 10 percent of Renesas's overall capacity.

It is reported that Nikkei Chinese website also pointed out at the time that in response to disasters and other reasons that lead to the production of cutting-edge products in Ibaraki factory equipment production situation, Renesas Electronics will also achieve a number of production lines in Japan, and strive to stabilize the supply of semiconductors.

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