Türkiye is preparing to launch mass production of homegrown chips, a move designed to reduce dependence on foreign technology and strengthen its position in the semiconductor sector. Ali Baran, CEO of Turkish chip design company Yongatek Microelectronics, said the firm has been working since 2014 to become a national hub for chip design and manufacturing. Yongatek is currently collaborating with appliance maker Beko under Türkiye’s HIT-30 funding program to develop microcontrollers for use in household products. Research and development for the microcontroller project has largely been completed, with prototypes scheduled for production by the end of the year and full-scale manufacturing expected to begin next year. According to Baran, Beko alone anticipates an annual usage of around 30 million microcontrollers, while demand from the defense, robotics and Internet of Things (IoT) sectors could reach up to 50 million units.
Baran highlighted the global context of Türkiye’s initiative, noting that the tech and chip trade war between the U.S. and China underscores the importance of building local capacity. He said chip manufacturing once relied on designs from Silicon Valley and production in Asia-Pacific, but in recent decades it has become a strategic industry, with supply disruptions such as the pandemic-era chip crisis underscoring its significance. Major U.S. firms including Nvidia, Qualcomm, Broadcom and Apple are shifting more chip production to domestic facilities, a move Baran described as creating a new frontier in the “chip war” if fully realized. He added that chips are set to replace oil as the defining resource of this century, with artificial intelligence emerging as a key arena of competition. Countries able to produce advanced AI chips first will gain a long-term edge, he said, potentially shaping the next fifty to one hundred years of technology leadership.
To accelerate local production, Türkiye plans to roll out a support package worth around $5 billion to attract international technology companies to establish manufacturing infrastructure within the country. Currently, Türkiye depends almost entirely on imported chips, although a few domestic companies produce limited sensors. Baran said that while building a chip plant alone will not cover the nation’s total needs, the goal is to secure production of widely used chips for domestic markets. The first phase of local manufacturing will focus on chips for home appliances, with potential expansion to automotive applications. While high-end 7- and 5-nanometer chips dominate headlines, Baran explained that Türkiye will initially work on 28- or 40-nanometer chips and may introduce slightly newer versions up to 22 nanometers for automotive use. Establishing a production line can take up to three years, he said, calling on organisations such as Aselsan and TÜBITAK to contribute to the effort.
Baran, who also sits on the board of the Communication Technologies Cluster (HTK), said the group is working to meet Türkiye’s semiconductor needs, a space currently dominated by Chinese firms. He expressed a desire for more chip design expertise to reside in Türkiye over the long term while remaining open to collaboration with foreign firms. He also stressed that the defense industry faces significant challenges with chips, particularly field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) heavily used in military applications. Restrictions on access to FPGAs could deeply impact the sector, prompting Yongatek to explore domestic alternatives in collaboration with foreign partners. In addition to microcontrollers, the company is developing AI chips for smart cameras and smart city security applications using 12-nanometer technology from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, with mass production slated for 2027–2028. Work is also underway on an FPGA through a European consortium to establish a proof-of-concept infrastructure in Türkiye, as well as a chip designed for 5G non-terrestrial networks. Baran emphasised that more “design houses” are needed within Türkiye and urged Turkish engineers abroad to return and support national chip development efforts.
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