Toshiba shuts down Japanese chip factory after earthquake

Toshiba has shut down a chip factory in southern Japan after an earthquake hit that region last weekend. There is damage to the production lines, but the exact impact is still being investigated by Toshiba.

The buildings and infrastructure of the Japan Semiconductor plant in Oita were not damaged and there were no injuries, but there was damage to some production lines. Toshiba reports this after an initial analysis of the consequences of the earthquake.

It took place off the coast of the island of Kyushu, in southern Japan. Oita is a town on Kyushu. Only after the status of the production lines has been determined, Toshiba decides whether to resume production. No damage was found at the chip factory of Toshiba Buzen Electronics, also in Kyushu.

Toshiba Semiconductor manufactures LSI chips for the automotive and industrial markets in the affected location. The company has a second LSI chip factory in the Northern Iwate region of Japan. In 2020, according to Reuters, Toshiba announced that it wanted to stop the system lsi division, because it is not profitable enough. Lsi stands for large-scale integration.

The factories of Toshiba Semiconductor