Toto Ltd., a Japanese sanitary ware maker, has announced that it will invest 80 billion yen (about $496 million) in semiconductor materials over the next five years. The company aims to develop materials for future 1-nanometer-class chips.
The investments will be directed at research and development in the Kanagawa region, as well as equipment for facilities in the cities of Oita and Fukuoka. Toto has been producing special ceramic materials and electrostatic precipitators used in chip manufacturing since the 1980s.
According to Ryosuke Hayashi, the company's chief technology officer, semiconductor investments will account for more than half of Toto's total capital expenditures in the coming years. He said that the company's semiconductor division has already surpassed its sanitary ware business in terms of profitability. Toto shares rose more than 10 percent in one day after the news.
