Malaysia unveils six local chip innovations with RM300 million sales potential

Malaysia presented six locally developed semiconductor innovations in Kuala Lumpur on October 16, with their combined potential sales estimated at RM300 million. The launch forms part of government efforts to expand the country’s role from manufacturing chips to designing and owning the technology.

Economy Minister Akmal Nasrullah Nasir said the designs showed Malaysian companies’ increasing capabilities, but commercial success would require customer uptake, compliance with industry qualification requirements and the ability to scale production. He also said the government needed to help develop markets for Malaysian-designed chips.

The developers operate within the Malaysia Semiconductor IC Design Park. Their products include SkyeChip’s MARS1000, an edge-AI processor for cameras, robots and factory systems, and MaiStorage’s aiDAPTIV+, which provides storage for AI personal computers and servers.

SiliconX presented a reprogrammable field-programmable gate array for industrial and automotive uses, described at the launch as the first homegrown device of its kind in Malaysia and Southeast Asia. Infinecs’ Maxwell regulates power for vehicle electronics, while Weeroc Space developed a power controller for satellites and other space systems. Alphaswift’s FC Mini controls flight for autonomous drones.

Akmal said partnerships, investment and workforce development were supporting Malaysia’s expansion into integrated circuit design. The National Semiconductor Strategy targets training and upskilling for 60,000 engineers. Separately, the Arm On-Demand Training programme aims to equip 10,000 Malaysians with specialised IC design skills over four years.

Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari said the Puchong and Cyberjaya design parks together housed 407 engineers working across 20 companies. Puchong was nearing capacity, while Cyberjaya was preparing to increase its occupied space from one floor to three.