'Made by Malaysia': country unveils six home-grown chip designs
Malaysia is best known for testing and packaging chips. Now the government has shown six domestic chip developments, ranging from an AI processor to a satellite power component.
Symbolic image · Photo: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped and resized)
Malaysia wants to move up in the semiconductor industry from manufacturing hub to developer of its own technology. In Kuala Lumpur on Friday, Economy Minister Akmal Nasrullah Nasir unveiled six chips and chip solutions developed by companies in the country's state-backed IC design park. According to Malay Mail, their combined sales potential is estimated at around 300 million ringgit. The minister spoke of the difference between 'Made in Malaysia' and 'Made by Malaysia': the aim is to design and own the technology at home.
The new products include SkyeChip's MARS1000 AI processor for cameras, robots and factory systems, and MaiStorage's storage solutions for AI computers. SiliconX presented what it says is the first field-programmable gate array (FPGA) developed in Malaysia and South-East Asia, for industrial and automotive use. Infinecs showed a power regulator for vehicle electronics, Weeroc Space a power controller chip for satellites, and Alphaswift a flight controller for autonomous drones. The minister said the next step is winning customers and passing industry qualification.
Malaysia has been an important location for testing and packaging semiconductors for decades. Its national semiconductor strategy aims to train or upskill 60,000 engineers, and the country is working with British chip designer Arm on access to design IP. According to Malay Mail, 407 engineers at 20 companies, including firms from Taiwan, France, Japan and Australia, work in the two design parks in Puchong and Cyberjaya. There is no independent assessment of the sales estimate.