{"slug": "fujifilm-expands-key-chip-material-output-to-capture-ai-demand", "title": "Fujifilm expands key chip material output to capture AI demand", "summary": "Fujifilm Holdings opened a new fabrication building in Oita Prefecture to triple production of post-CMP cleaners, investing ¥7 billion ($44 million) to capture AI-driven semiconductor demand. The Tokyo-based company, better known for cameras and office copiers, saw revenue from its semiconductor materials business grow 25% year-over-year in the April-June quarter and is considering spinning off its legacy office equipment unit to focus on chip materials and biopharmaceuticals.", "body_md": "Fujifilm Holdings is expanding production of key materials used in advanced semiconductor manufacturing to capitalize on surging demand.\n\nThe global expansion of data centers for artificial intelligence has created bottlenecks and shortages across the supply chain, which has boosted the company better known for its cameras and office copier machines.\n\nFujifilm this month opened a new fabrication building that will help it triple production of post-CMP cleaners at its factory in Oita Prefecture. These are essential for removing particles and residues from wafers after chemical-mechanical polishing.\n\nThe Tokyo-based company spent ¥7 billion ($44 million) on the expansion project after forecasting the market will grow rapidly going forward. Semiconductors mark the most promising growth segment for Fujifilm’s business, which has been hurt by stagnation in office equipment sales. The company’s stock suffered its worst decline on record last month after earnings disappointed.\n\nFujifilm has been ramping up cutting-edge product development and output capacity of a wide range of semiconductor materials, including CMP slurries, post-CMP cleaners, photoresists and polyimides. Like other Japanese companies in the chip supply chain, Fujifilm is adapting its chemicals expertise from another industrial sector to the precision manufacturing of essential fabrication supplies.\n\nRevenue from this business grew 25% from a year earlier in the April-June quarter.\n\nThe new investment is part of a broader push to establish semiconductor manufacturing materials and biopharmaceuticals as the core businesses at Fujifilm.\n\nThe company is also considering spinning off the struggling legacy office equipment business, which still accounts for 35% of the group’s overall revenue. Fujifilm says listing the unit as a separate company would allow it to make investment decisions more swiftly in its new areas of focus.\n\nFujifilm is looking to position itself as a supplier across more of the chipmaking process, including materials for lithography and advanced packaging. The company has developed AI-driven tools that help engineers identify formulas for new chemicals in a matter of months, rather than the years the research would previously take.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/fujifilm-expands-key-chip-material-output-to-capture-ai-demand", "canonical_source": "https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2026/08/21/companies/fujifilm-expansion-chip-material-ai/", "published_at": "2026-08-21 08:32:00+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-21 08:44:02.377828+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-infrastructure", "ai-products"], "entities": ["Fujifilm Holdings", "Oita Prefecture"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/fujifilm-expands-key-chip-material-output-to-capture-ai-demand", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/fujifilm-expands-key-chip-material-output-to-capture-ai-demand.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/fujifilm-expands-key-chip-material-output-to-capture-ai-demand.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/fujifilm-expands-key-chip-material-output-to-capture-ai-demand.jsonld"}}