Fujifilm Increases Chip Material Production in Several Places
Fujifilm Holdings plans to invest over 100 billion yen (640 million US dollars) within three years to increase semiconductor material production in factories in Japan, the United States, South Korea, and other regions.
The three-year amount as of March 2027 is twice the investment amount of the Japanese company in the first three fiscal years.
Fujifilm hopes to supply chip manufacturing materials from around the world, in part to cope with the rapid growth of generative artificial intelligence. US President Trump announced last week that Japanese tech investor SoftBank Group will invest $500 billion in building artificial intelligence infrastructure in the US, along with US companies OpenAI and Oracle
Fujifilm is the fifth largest supplier of semiconductor circuit photosensitive materials in the world. The company’s clients include major chip manufacturers such as TSMC and Samsung Electronics. Fujifilm plans to strengthen its connection with these customers by expanding factories near them.
Business and investment
This autumn, Fujifilm plans to launch new production facilities for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography equipment in Japan and South Korea, which is crucial for manufacturing cutting-edge chips.
In Japan, Fujifilm will invest approximately 13 billion yen to build a development and production facility in Shizuoka Prefecture. In Samsung’s existing factory in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, Fujifilm plans to install new equipment that will be fully operational this fall.
Fujifilm will invest billions of yen in a complex building in Cheonan, South Korea to build a facility for producing abrasives for polishing semiconductors. By the spring of 2027, when mass production begins, the factory’s capacity will increase by approximately 30%.
Fujifilm is also interested in expanding into the Indian market, and may sign contracts with chemical companies that have factories in India as early as this year to provide production technology for chip manufacturing materials or establish joint ventures.
Fujifilm may establish its own factory in India in fiscal year 2027 or later, depending on whether the client company has a factory in India. The Indian government has announced plans to provide 760 billion rupees (8.8 billion US dollars) to support the development of the domestic semiconductor industry.
Although a large part of the world’s chips are made in the United States, South Korea and Taiwan, China. Japanese companies control half of the world’s key chip manufacturing materials market.
Fujifilm positions chip manufacturing materials as a growth area and plans to double its sales in this field from the level of the 2024 fiscal year to 500 billion yen by the 2030 fiscal year.
According to research firm Fuji Economy, the global chip manufacturing materials market may grow by 35% from 2023 levels, reaching $58.3 billion by 2029.