Fujifilm announced on the 29th that it has begun selling materials used in cutting-edge semiconductor manufacturing, mainly photoresists (photosensitive materials) and developers, which are used in the process of drawing fine circuits on silicon wafers. The company expects that market demand for these materials will increase with the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and 5G communication technology.
To coincide with the launch of new product sales, Fujifilm will expand existing production facilities in Japan and South Korea. The company will add equipment to the production line and install testing equipment for quality assessment, and a new clean room will be built at the Korean plant. Specific information on production capacity and investment amount has not been disclosed, and the new facility is expected to be operational in October 2025.
The products launched by Fujifilm this time are suitable for the latest EUV (extreme ultraviolet) lithography equipment, which can achieve circuit drawing with a line width of less than 10 nanometers (1 nanometer is one billionth of a meter) on silicon wafers, and are planned to support the future demand for next-generation semiconductors with a line width of 1 nanometer.
Fujifilm continues to increase its investment in the semiconductor materials field. At the end of September, the company announced an investment of approximately 20 billion yen in two factories in Japan (including the factory in Shizuoka Prefecture), and it is expected to open two new factories between 2025 and 2026. In addition, the company has set a goal to increase sales of the semiconductor materials business to 500 billion yen in the fiscal year ending March 2031, doubling the target of 245 billion yen in March 2025.
