It is my honor to announce that I have been appointed President and Chief Executive Officer, effective April 1, 2025. I joined the company in 1986, back when it was known as Kokusai Electric Co., Ltd., and have since dedicated my career to the semiconductor manufacturing equipment business. Drawing upon my background in manufacturing, sales, corporate planning, and assignments abroad and taking to heart our profound social responsibility as a listed company, I will commit myself to fostering innovative solutions that will boost our corporate value. To that end, I will be leading the company’s pursuit of both business activities and ESG initiatives aimed at resolving environmental and social issues and strengthening governance. We deeply appreciate your ongoing support and understanding.
Our group began the development of semiconductor manufacturing equipment in the 1950s, and for nearly 70 years, has been dedicated to R&D focused exclusively on deposition technology in the front-end processes of semiconductor device manufacturing. Since establishing ourselves under the name KOKUSAI ELECTRIC CORPORATION in 2018—and listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime Market in October 2023—we have consistently met the diverse demands of semiconductor device manufacturers around the world.
The semiconductor device market surrounding our group is expected to continue to grow dramatically. This expansion will be driven not only by increasing consumer demand for smartphones, computers, and other products, but also by rising industrial demand—fueled by data centers, 5G, generative AI, and investments in environmental initiatives (referred to as green transformation, or GX)—as well as by leading nations’ initiatives to support and develop their industrial sectors. As semiconductor devices evolve, their structures are becoming more complex, adopting three-dimensional configurations and miniaturized designs. As a result, demand for higher-performance semiconductor manufacturing equipment is rising, and the market for such equipment is also expected to expand considerably. These market conditions will lead to increased opportunities for our batch ALD-compatible equipment and our single wafer treatment equipment, both of which command industry-leading market shares. We will therefore aim to achieve a sales growth rate exceeding that of the wafer fab equipment (WFE) market as a whole.
As a company that underpins the evolution of semiconductor devices, our mission is to provide the world with semiconductor manufacturing equipment that meets the need for increasingly higher-density and higher-performance semiconductor devices. The KOKUSAI ELECTRIC Group will continue to support a future shaped by creativity and innovation under the corporate slogan, “Technology & Tai-wa for Tomorrow.”
* We refer to the technique for thin-film deposition at an atomic-layer level involving a process of cyclical supply of multiple gases as ALD.
