Semiconductors
Materials & Components
Wafers, resists, passives — where Japan dominates
6 articles
HOYA's Near-Monopoly in EUV Mask Blanks: The Glass Purity Wall No Rival Has Crossed
The mask blanks used to print the world's most advanced chips come from a tiny circle of suppliers led by HOYA and AGC. How did an optical-glass maker that started with eyeglass lenses come to control a chokepoint of semiconductor lithography? This article explains the technical requirements, the entry barriers, and HOYA's second quiet dominance in HDD glass substrates.
記事を読む Semiconductor Materials / JX MetalsJX Metals: The Little-Known Company Behind 60% of the Metal in Advanced Chips
The copper interconnects inside every advanced chip — and the barrier films that keep that copper from bleeding out — trace back to one supplier of high-purity metal. JX Advanced Metals holds roughly 60% of the global market for semiconductor sputtering targets and about 78% in rolled copper foil. Listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime market in March 2025 after spinning off from ENEOS, it has become one of the AI chip supply chain's hidden chokepoints. Here is what the company actually does.
記事を読む Company Deep Dive: JSRJSR: The Ex-Rubber Maker Whose Photoresist Is in a Third of the World's Chips
Founded in 1957 as Japan's state-backed synthetic rubber company, JSR is now a materials giant whose photoresist is used in roughly one-third of all semiconductors produced worldwide. In EUV resist it holds a powerful card — metal-oxide chemistry acquired with US-based Inpria — and in 2024 it was taken private by the government-backed fund JIC. This deep dive unpacks its business segments, technological strengths and competitive structure from securities filings and IR materials.
記事を読む Company Deep Dive: SUMCOSUMCO: Japan's Other Wafer Giant — How Two Companies Control Most of the World's Silicon
The global silicon wafer market is close to a duopoly: Japan's Shin-Etsu Chemical and SUMCO together hold more than half of it. Born from Sumitomo and Mitsubishi silicon operations, SUMCO runs second worldwide in the 300mm wafers that leading-edge logic is built on — quietly supplying the substrate under every AI chip. This deep dive unpacks its business mix, technological strengths and competitive structure from earnings reports and IR materials.
記事を読む Semiconductor Materials / JapanJapan Makes ~90% of the World's Photoresist — The Chip Industry's Other Chokepoint
Chips cannot be built with equipment alone. The light-sensitive resist that prints circuits, the silicon wafer that serves as the substrate, the slurries that polish each layer — most of these materials come from Japanese suppliers. This article unpacks the quiet chokepoint held by Shin-Etsu Chemical, SUMCO, JSR and Tokyo Ohka Kogyo.
記事を読む Company Deep Dive: Shin-EtsuShin-Etsu Chemical: The Company Behind 42% of the World's Silicon Wafers
Before TSMC, Samsung or Intel can print a single circuit, they buy a polished silicon disc — and about 42% of those wafers come from one Japanese chemical company. Shin-Etsu Chemical also leads the world in PVC resin, quietly controlling the very top of the semiconductor supply chain. This deep dive unpacks its business segments, technological moat and competitive structure using annual-report and IR figures.
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