Expected growth in demand for automotive and electronic components driven by vehicle electrification and the spread of IoT

「Meanwhile, the divergence by application became more pronounced in automotive and industrial equipment applications, as inventory adjustments remained prolonged and capital investment continued to be restrained.」

「Although some stagnation remains, owing to weak automotive demand resulting from slower growth in the EV market and delays in the recovery of legacy semiconductors, demand for generative AI and data centers is driving the market,」

「Meanwhile, in addition to growing demand for semiconductors used in generative AI, expectations are rising for further medium- to long-term market expansion through the wider adoption of PLP (panel-level packaging) and the development of India’s semiconductor industry.」

「Meanwhile, investment in servers, including ultra-wideband memory (HBM: High Bandwidth Memory), continues to benefit from strong demand in anticipation of the wider adoption of generative AI, and further investment is expected. In addition to continued aggressive investment in generative AI in 2024, capital investment in consumer products such as PCs and smartphones, particularly memory semiconductors, is also expected to recover, leading to expectations for further expansion of the semiconductor market.」

「Demand for automotive and power semiconductors remained stable.」

「In the semiconductor industry, inventory adjustments continued, particularly for memory semiconductors, due to sluggish demand for end products such as PCs and smartphones, while stable demand for automotive and power semiconductors continued.」

「Capital investment in increased production of automotive semiconductors and power semiconductors remained solid, aimed at the expansion of the electric vehicle market.」

「As active capital investment was made primarily in automotive semiconductors, including those for EVs, and power semiconductors, orders remained at a high level for the second consecutive fiscal year.」

「In the semiconductor industry, strong demand for semiconductors continued across a wide range of fields, including products related to the high-speed communications standard 5G, PCs, data centers, automotive applications and consumer electronics.」

「In the semiconductor industry, strong demand continued across a wide range of fields, including products related to high-speed communications standards such as 5G for smartphones, PCs, data centers and consumer electronics.」

「In the semiconductor industry, strong demand for semiconductors continues across a wide range of product areas, including products related to the high-speed communications standard 5G, such as smartphones, as well as PCs, automotive applications and consumer electronics.」

「In the semiconductor industry, strong demand continued across a wide range of applications, including those related to the high-speed communications standard 5G, servers and automotive applications.」

「Amid tight semiconductor supply and demand, due to increased demand for IT-related products resulting from the expansion of remote work and online classes and the full-scale adoption of the high-speed communications standard 5G, the sharp recovery in demand from the automotive and industrial machinery sectors coincided with these trends, resulting in a global semiconductor shortage.」

「The semiconductor market remained strong, supported by continued robust demand for 5G-related products and notebook PCs and servers associated with the spread of teleworking and online classes, as well as increased demand for automotive semiconductors driven by the shift to EVs and further acceleration of semiconductor localization in China.」

「Semiconductor demand remained firm, driven by increased investment related to the next-generation communications standard 5G and growth in server demand prompted by the spread of telework and online classes.」

「In the laser processing equipment business, net sales were ¥341 million, down ¥180 million, or 34.6%, year on year, and the operating loss was ¥70 million, compared with operating profit of ¥17 million in the same period of the previous year. This resulted from continued caution toward capital investment as a consequence of the sharp decline in automobile and industrial machinery demand accompanying the stagnation of the global economy, together with uncertainty over when demand would recover.」

「In the laser processing equipment business, net sales were ¥1,215 million and the operating loss was ¥82 million. This reflected continued caution among electronic component manufacturers toward capital investment amid difficult market conditions, including the recent decline in machine-tool orders and sluggish automobile sales, as well as uncertainty over the outlook caused by the US-China trade war.」

「Although uncertainty over the outlook for the US-China trade war means that customers' appetite for capital investment remains weak, signs of recovery have begun to emerge in the previously sluggish semiconductor market, supported by strong demand for 5G base stations, signs that memory prices have bottomed out and positive capital investment activity at some companies.」

「Meanwhile, in anticipation of the practical application of the next-generation communications standard 5G, the increase in IoT devices that connect all kinds of things to the internet, and the expansion of AI (artificial intelligence) applications, related companies have continued to show a positive stance toward capital investment. Semiconductor demand is therefore expected to continue expanding over the medium to long term.」

「In the laser processing equipment business, demand for electronic components, primarily for automotive applications, remained solid, resulting in net sales of ¥1,844 million and operating profit of ¥172 million. The business achieved profitability in its first year as a member of our group.」

「In the laser processing equipment business, operating performance benefited from continued firmness in demand for electronic components, primarily for automotive applications. Sales of laser trimmers remained solid, resulting in net sales of ¥903 million.」

「Meanwhile, toward the commercialization of 5G, the foundation for IoT (the Internet of Things), development of 5G-compatible semiconductors has accelerated and large-scale implementation tests have been conducted. In addition, semiconductor demand is expected to expand over the long term as the number of semiconductors installed in vehicles increases and their functionality improves in line with the wider adoption of electric vehicles and the practical application of autonomous driving technology.」

「In addition, active research and development investment across industry boundaries, including development partnerships between automakers and IT companies, has continued toward the wider adoption of electric vehicles, connected cars and autonomous driving technology. Semiconductor applications are expected to continue expanding, driven by the full-scale adoption of AI and IoT (the Internet of Things), as well as the growth of high-capacity, high-speed communications ahead of the arrival of the fifth-generation mobile communications system (5G),」

「Moves such as cross-industry business alliances that leverage the respective strengths of the parties have become more active as companies seek to enhance their competitiveness in growth markets such as AI (artificial intelligence) and autonomous driving technology. Demand for DRAM and NAND flash memory has remained strong due to increased memory capacity per smartphone and the expansion of data center capacity.」

「The semiconductor market expanded significantly, led by DRAM and NAND flash memory, due to growing demand for 3D memory for data processing accompanying higher smartphone functionality and the spread of IoT, increased server memory capacity to handle the sharp rise in data volumes accompanying the development of cloud services and AI, and the growing number of semiconductor devices installed in vehicles as autonomous driving advances.」

「Further demand growth is expected in the automotive sector due to the shift to EVs resulting from tighter environmental regulations in Europe, the US and China, and the increase in the number of semiconductor devices installed as vehicles become increasingly electronic.」

「The number of market players is also expanding alongside the growth in semiconductor applications, as collaboration across different industries intensifies toward the realization of an IoT society in which everything is connected to the internet, and major semiconductor and automobile manufacturers announce partnerships to apply artificial intelligence (AI) to autonomous driving technology.」

「The drivers of semiconductor demand are diverse. New demand has emerged for advanced packages requiring combinations of various devices, driven by higher smartphone functionality, increased memory capacity, the expansion of data centers for big-data processing accompanying the spread of IoT (the Internet of Things), and the rise of the automotive-related business as vehicles become increasingly electronic and autonomous.」

「The drivers of semiconductor demand are diverse. In addition to the expansion of smartphone adoption, demand for 3D memory is growing as data centers expand to process big data accompanying the spread of IoT (the Internet of Things), while the automotive-related business is growing as vehicles become increasingly electronic and autonomous. As a result, further demand growth is expected even for advanced packages requiring combinations of various devices.」

「Further growth in the automotive-related business is expected as vehicles become increasingly electronic, while demand for electronic components is expected to increase with the spread of IoT (the Internet of Things).」