Spotlight Tokyo Electron: Shifting Left

Since its founding in 1963, Tokyo Electron has been accumulating the technological expertise it builds on to deliver industry-leading production equipment in two product categories: semiconductors and flat panel displays. In a recent statement, the firm’s CEO observed that 2020 was a year marked not only by global pandemic and climate disaster, but also by digital transformation, with the importance of semiconductors moving into prominence in daily life as people relied on data and displays to stay connected.

The combined pressures of the accelerated progress and decarbonization have led the firm to identify the theme “digital and green” as the core value for all future innovations. Speaking of which, the firm’s R&D process focuses on anticipating its customers’ needs for next-generation equipment. To that end, it employs what it calls a “Shift Left” approach, investing significant resources in early stage innovation and working in tandem with customers to build a roadmap and develop the technologies necessary to achieve next-generation demands.

Credit: TEL

In the three-year period that began in fiscal 2020, Tokyo Electron expected to spend about $3.5 billion on R&D (at current JPY/USD of 113/1). In last year’s survey, TEL ranked No. 1 among Japanese companies in the ROESG index, a non-financial sustainability index that measures capital efficiency in conjunction with environmental, social and governance commitment. The firm is based in Tokyo, Japan.

As of 9/30/21, Tokyo Electron was not held in the Knowledge Leaders Strategy.

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