Foxconn is lobbying Japan’s government for subsidies to manufacture AI servers at subsidiary Sharp’s factory in Mie Prefecture, according to Diamond Weekly.
The world’s largest contract electronics maker pitched the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry on plans to convert Sharp’s Kameyama No. 2 plant into an AI server production facility starting next year. The proposal hinges on Foxconn’s two-decade relationship with Nvidia to secure scarce GPU allocations — chips typically reserved for major U.S. cloud providers.
Foxconn Chairman Young Liu met with Akira Amari, a former secretary-general of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party who has shaped the country’s semiconductor policy, in November for a second round of discussions, the magazine reported. The company told METI it would also consider using chips from Rapidus, Japan’s state-backed chipmaker, if they prove commercially viable.
The push into Japan-made servers serves dual purposes for Foxconn: diversifying its manufacturing base beyond China and rehabilitating its reputation in Japan, where skepticism persists over its 2016 Sharp acquisition. Japanese political and business circles continue to view the company as having close ties to mainland China due to its extensive manufacturing operations there.
Sharp has been offloading assets and cutting losses from its once-dominant LCD business, posting roughly $2.8 billion in losses over the past two years.
Foxconn declined to comment.
