Japan’s Mitsubishi Electric has agreed to buy part of a plant in western Japan from Sharp to meet demand for power management chips used in electric vehicles (EVs).
Mitsubishi’s rivals such as Infineon Technologies and ON Semiconductor are in the process of enhancing production capacity for power management chips, which efficiently control electric power in cars and electronic devices.
Mitsubishi, a major supplier of such chips to Toyota Motor, said it would invest about 20 billion yen ($187 million) to acquire two idled facilities at Sharp’s chip plant and launch production lines there.
The new plant, set to begin operating in November next year, will process wafers for power management chips, Mitsubishi said.