Japanese chip equipment manufacturer International Electric will expand its workforce in China

Source: Jiweiwang

    Japanese chip equipment manufacturer Kokusai Electric Corp. is expanding its workforce in China and expects an increase in demand from mature chip factories in China in 2024.

    Kokusai was listed on the top tier "PRIME" market of the Tokyo Stock Exchange on October 25th. Its CEO Fumiyuki Kanai expects continuous investment in Chinese production capacity and plans to expand the team size in China to better serve customers.

    The report states that China‘s industrial expansion is partly due to efforts to address higher barriers set by the United States towards advanced chips, thereby achieving localization of chip production. Chinese companies have invested billions of dollars in traditional chip factories, and mature chips are key components in various products from smartphones to electric vehicles.

    Kanai said, "Countless small manufacturing factories have sprung up in China like mushrooms after rain, and the Chinese government is providing active support for industries such as the Internet of Things, smartphones, and personal computers."

    Kanai stated that China‘s investment will cover storage, logic, and power chips of 28nm and above. China currently accounts for over 40% of Kokusai‘s revenue, partly due to weak demand in other regions. Kokusai expects this proportion to rise slightly below 50% in the coming months, despite China‘s historical contribution to the company‘s revenue being about 30%.

    Kanai said, "We only have an office in China to provide after-sales service, and there are no plans to conduct production or research there. We will increase personnel to meet local needs."

    Kokusai is a key participant in the field of thin film deposition, which involves depositing a layer of chemical material on silicon wafers during semiconductor production, followed by circuit etching. The company‘s equipment adopts batch atomic layer deposition technology, which is an advanced technology that helps efficiently produce chips with multi-layer structures.

    Kokusai‘s main customers are NAND flash memory manufacturers, and the demand for this field has been declining. Kanai also agrees that the storage market is challenging and states that the company plans to diversify its product portfolio and may enter neighboring markets through acquisitions.