Japan

02/01/1997

Japan

Japanese equipment market could reach 1 trillion yen. In a SEMI survey of members in North America, Europe, and Asia, the Japanese semiconductor equipment market is expected to top 1 trillion yen by 1999. The Japanese market is expected to increase 4.4% this year to 810.7 billion yen, decline slightly, then rise again to reach 1.05 trillion by 1999. The demand is expected to come from the acceleration of 64-Mbit DRAM device production by Japanese semiconductor makers, sparked by the recent market overcapacity of lower-density memory devices, according to SEMI analyst Elizabeth Schumann.

Tokyo Electron Ltd. of Japan and Varian Associates Inc., Palo Alto, CA, will revise their long working relationship to enable Japanese customers to have more direct access to Varian`s product, engineering, and support organizations worldwide. The firms` 18-year association will begin a phased transformation in April, requiring a number of operational changes in Japan.

ULVAC, Chigasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, a maker of vacuum devices and equipment, plans to increase sales in mainland China to the level of 10 billion yen by the end of the century, 10% of total sales. Last year, ULVAC saw 1 billion yen of revenue in China. The firm named its Shanghai Service Center its new headquarters for business in China, and has two offices, two procurement centers, and two joint ventures in China.

Nippon Soda Co., Tokyo, plans to make inroads into the photoresist business for excimer laser lithography applications. The company expects to start production of the new photoresist in October 1997, with an annual production capacity of 200 tons at its subsidiary, Nisso Chemical, in Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture, Japan.