Equipment
Where Japanese Equipment Makers Lead
Japanese equipment makers lead specific steps of chipmaking rather than the whole line: coat/develop, wafer cleaning, batch deposition, dicing and grinding, testing and fab automation. This page maps each step to the Japanese companies that supply it.
- Process steps12
- Company profiles56
The chipmaking line, step by step
A fab combines tools from many vendors, because no company makes equipment for every step. The diagram follows the order in which a wafer moves through the line. Steps outlined in blue are those where Japanese makers are the leading or co-leading suppliers.
Japanese suppliers by process step
- 01 · Front endMask writing and mask inspectionNuFlare Technology, Lasertec
- 02 · Front endWafer cleaning
- 03 · Front endDeposition (CVD, ALD, batch furnaces)
- 04 · Front endCoat/develop
- 05 · Front endLithography
- 06 · Front endEtching
- 07 · Front endCMP
- 08 · Front endInspection and metrology
- 09 · Back endDicing and grinding
- 10 · Back endTesters and probers
- 11 · Back endMolding
- 12 · Fab automationAutomated material handling (AMHS)Daifuku, Murata Machinery
Market structure by step
| Step | Structure | Japanese suppliers | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mask writing and mask inspection Front end | Oligopoly Two to three suppliers | NuFlare Technology, Lasertec | NuFlare builds electron-beam mask writers; Lasertec inspects EUV masks and mask blanks. |
| Wafer cleaning Front end | Oligopoly Two to three suppliers | SCREEN, Tokyo Electron | SCREEN leads single-wafer cleaning, followed by Tokyo Electron. |
| Deposition (CVD, ALD, batch furnaces) Front end | Competitive Several suppliers compete | Tokyo Electron, Kokusai Electric | Applied Materials leads PVD; Kokusai Electric is a major supplier of batch furnaces. |
| Coat/develop Front end | Monopoly One supplier dominates | Tokyo Electron | Tokyo Electron supplies the large majority of coater/developers used next to lithography scanners. |
| Lithography Front end | Monopoly One supplier dominates | Nikon, Canon | EUV comes only from ASML. Nikon and Canon supply ArF, KrF and i-line tools for mature nodes. |
| Etching Front end | Competitive Several suppliers compete | Tokyo Electron, Hitachi High-Tech | Lam Research, Tokyo Electron and Applied Materials compete across conductor and dielectric etch. |
| CMP Front end | Oligopoly Two to three suppliers | Ebara | Essentially a two-company market of Applied Materials and Ebara. |
| Inspection and metrology Front end | Oligopoly Two to three suppliers | Hitachi High-Tech, Lasertec | KLA leads overall; Hitachi High-Tech is strong in CD-SEM metrology. |
| Dicing and grinding Back end | Oligopoly Two to three suppliers | DISCO, Tokyo Seimitsu | DISCO dominates, with Tokyo Seimitsu second: effectively a two-company Japanese market. |
| Testers and probers Back end | Oligopoly Two to three suppliers | Advantest, Tokyo Seimitsu | Advantest and Teradyne share the tester market; probers come mainly from Tokyo Seimitsu and Tokyo Electron. |
| Molding Back end | Competitive Several suppliers compete | Towa | Towa is known for compression molding used in advanced packages. |
| Automated material handling (AMHS) Fab automation | Oligopoly Two to three suppliers | Daifuku, Murata Machinery | Two Japanese companies move wafer carriers between tools in fabs worldwide. |
Strengths and gaps
Japan's strongest positions are in steps where precision and process know-how matter more than sheer scale: Tokyo Electron's coater/developers, SCREEN's cleaning tools, DISCO's dicing saws and Advantest's testers. The largest markets, lithography, deposition and etching, are led by ASML, Applied Materials and Lam Research, and METI noted in December 2025 that Japan's share shrank in exactly those markets between 2021 and 2023.
For the overall numbers see Japan's market share; for company size see the ranking by semiconductor revenue.
Japanese equipment makers
- Tokyo Electron (TEL)Coat/develop, etch and deposition equipment
- SCREEN HoldingsWafer cleaning, coat/develop and inspection equipment
- AdvantestAutomated test equipment (ATE) for SoC and memory
- DISCODicing, grinding and polishing equipment
- LasertecEUV mask and mask blank inspection
- Kokusai ElectricBatch deposition, diffusion and ALD equipment
- EbaraCMP systems, dry vacuum pumps and exhaust treatment
- Tokyo Seimitsu (ACCRETECH)Wafer probers, dicing and grinding machines, metrology
- CanonLithography steppers and nanoimprint lithography
- NikonArF, KrF and i-line lithography systems
- Hitachi High-TechCD-SEM metrology, defect inspection and etch systems
- ULVACVacuum deposition (sputtering) equipment and vacuum pumps
- TOWAMolding (encapsulation) equipment for chip packaging
- HORIBAMass flow controllers and process monitoring instruments
- DaifukuCleanroom automated material handling systems (AMHS)
- UshioLight sources and exposure systems for packaging
- Air WaterCMP slurry blending and supply systems
- Cambridge Filter CorporationHEPA and ULPA air filters for cleanrooms
- CKDProcess gas regulators and fluid control components
- EpiQuestMolecular beam epitaxy (MBE) systems
- ESPECEnvironmental and reliability test chambers
- Fasford TechnologyDie bonders
- FujikinGas flow controllers and integrated gas systems
- GigaphotonExcimer laser light sources for lithography
- Hamamatsu PhotonicsFailure analysis, process monitoring and static elimination equipment
- Hitachi Power SolutionsScanning acoustic microscopes
- Hugle ElectronicsCarrier cleaning systems and ionizers
- IWAKIChemical pumps
- Iwasaki ElectricOzone generators and lighting
- JEOLElectron beam lithography systems, electron microscopes and surface analysis
- Kashiyama IndustriesDry vacuum pumps
- Kobelco Research InstituteWafer metrology: flatness and carrier lifetime
- Koyo Thermo Systems (JTEKT Thermo Systems)Vertical furnaces
- Kusumoto Chemicals (ETAC)Temperature and humidity chambers, thermal shock chambers
- Murata Machinery (Muratec)Stockers and fab automation
- Musashi EngineeringDispensers
- NapsonResistivity and sheet resistance measurement
- Micronics JapanProbe cards
- Nippon Thompson (IKO)Linear motion components and precision positioning tables
- Nissin Ion EquipmentIon implanters
- Okamoto Machine Tool WorksWafer polishers and grinders
- Otsuka ElectronicsFilm thickness measurement and ellipsometers
- RigakuX-ray metrology and thermal analysis
- Riken KeikiGas detection systems
- RORZEWafer handling robots and sorters
- SAMCOPlasma etching, CVD and plasma cleaning equipment
- Shibaura MechatronicsPhotomask cleaning and carrier cleaning equipment
- ShimadzuAnalytical instruments
- Shishido ElectrostaticIonizers (static elimination)
- SpeedFamWafer polishing and lapping equipment
- Sumitomo Heavy Industries Ion TechnologyIon implanters
- ULVAC CryogenicsCryopumps
- ULVAC-PHISurface analysis instruments (XPS, TOF-SIMS)
- WINTESTBurn-in and image sensor test systems
- Yaskawa ElectricWafer transfer robots
- Yokogawa ElectricFab software: MES, equipment communication and cell control
Sources
Japan's semiconductor industry in numbers
Japanese equipment makers
Last updated: October 22, 2026