The chipmaker plans to close the aging 6-inch wafer site while keeping and strengthening R&D at or near Takasaki as it shifts resources toward data center and automotive growth areas.
Renesas Electronics said it will gradually scale down and discontinue manufacturing at its Takasaki plant in Gunma Prefecture within the next two to three years, citing structural changes in the semiconductor industry that have made operation of aging 6-inch wafer lines harder to sustain. The company said deterioration of manufacturing and utility equipment at the site, along with the broader discontinuation of materials and maintenance support for 150-millimeter lines, has made stable operations increasingly difficult. The plant, which began operating in 1970 as a Hitachi facility, has produced power semiconductors used for power control and has narrowed its production range in recent years. Renesas said it will assess customer demand, build inventory as needed, and reduce output in stages to maintain stable supply before the factory is closed. The exact timing of the shutdown has not yet been decided. Renesas said it will maintain and strengthen research and development functions at the current Takasaki site and potentially nearby facilities. Those R&D operations focus mainly on analog ICs and discrete power semiconductors that support product development for data center and automotive applications, which the company identifies as strategic areas. The Takasaki site has about 700 employees including R&D staff, with roughly 250 expected to be directly affected by the production shutdown. Renesas said its basic policy is to maintain employment through reassignments and career support inside and outside the company. The closure is the company’s first plant shutdown since the Yamaguchi plant in Ube City closed in 2022. The move comes as Renesas reported improving earnings for January-June 2026, with revenue rising 26% from a year earlier to ¥798.7 billion and net profit reaching ¥217.3 billion, versus a ¥175.3 billion loss a year earlier. Strong sales in automotive and data center applications helped the recovery. The company also said it had previously planned to start producing next-generation power semiconductors for EVs at Takasaki in 2025, but scrapped that development as EV demand weakened.