Rigaku recently held a grand opening ceremony for its Taiwan subsidiary and technology center in Taiwan. It will focus on semiconductor process control and use core X-ray technology to promote the strategic development of "laboratory to fab". Group President and CEO Jun Kawakami said that Rigaku has the world's leading X-ray core technology and testing equipment. The formal establishment of a subsidiary and technology center in Taiwan will represent an important milestone in its layout in the Asian high-tech market.
A global leader in X-ray technology, all products are manufactured in factories in Europe, America and Japan.In his speech at the opening ceremony, Jun Kawakami said that Rigaku's history can be traced back to 1951. It is Japan's first X-ray diffraction equipment manufacturer. After more than seventy years of steady development, it has grown from a small factory in Japan to a global company with operations in 136 countries and regions, and more than 70% of its sales come from overseas.
Kawakami Jun emphasized that Rigaku’s competitive advantage lies in its excellent core technology and comprehensive solutions. Its high-performance product line includes X-ray analytical instruments, portable laser spectrometers and thermal analyzers. The X-ray sources, optical components and detectors that support these core technologies are manufactured in factories in Japan, the United States and Eastern Europe. Among them, the factory in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan, covering an area of 23,000 square meters and overlooking Mount Fuji, produces its flagship products and key components, and completes all manufacturing procedures under strict internal quality control.
Established Taiwan subsidiary and technical center to enhance customer support efficiency and qualityRigaku chose to establish a subsidiary and technology center in Taiwan at this time, with the purpose of making Taiwan a central hub in Asia. Taiwan has always been a technology innovation center in the fields of semiconductors, electronics, life sciences and materials science, so the technology center was established to accelerate the development process and deliver products faster.
Jun Kawakami stated that customer success is Rigaku’s most important key performance indicator. In this regard, the Group will do its best to provide the highest quality technology and support, and the Taiwan Technology Center will become the best platform to realize this commitment. Rigaku continues to strengthen collaboration within the world, especially its technical teams in the United States and Poland, to jointly promote innovation in the fields of advanced optical components, precision multilayer film technology, and single crystal X-ray structural analysis systems.
He further explained that Rigaku’s main goal is to become a “one-of-a-kind global technology company” and focus on the in-depth development of X-ray technology. Among them, in terms of market position, it ranks among the top in the global X-ray diffraction market. In terms of market share in the semiconductor X-ray measurement market, it continues to lead with a global market share of 40%, making it the clear leader in the market.
In terms of financial goals, Rigaku has doubled the size of the group since 2020 and plans to continue to grow revenue by 10% per year in the period to 2027, with the goal of reaching a revenue scale of 120 billion yen. Among them, it is expected that the development potential in the field of semiconductor process control will be an important area for the group to accelerate its growth.
▲ Rigaku Group President and CEO Jun Kawakami pointed out that Rigaku is aiming to become a "unique global technology company" and plans to achieve revenue of 120 billion yen in 2027. (Source: Science and Technology News)
Build X-ray core technical capabilities and demonstrate laboratory-to-fab strategyJun Kawakami explained that the core of technological differentiation lies in its ability to internally develop X-ray core technology, which is mainly displayed in four key areas: First, in terms of X-ray source (X-ray source), Rigaku can create the world’s brightest and most powerful X-ray generator; secondly, in the optical component (Optics) part, it also has advanced multi-layer coating (multi-layer coating) technology, which can convert X-ray The beam is controlled into a very small spot, which is a unique capability on the market; in the detector field, it assembles its advanced two-dimensional detectors with self-manufactured semiconductors; finally, in terms of analytical software, it is currently making major breakthroughs in analytical software and AI capabilities.
Therefore, Rigaku has implemented the "Lab to Fab" strategy by relying on its independent research and development capabilities of core components. This strategy aims to effectively introduce the results of academic research (Lab) into the field of actual manufacturing applications (Fab). For example, the metal-organic framework (MOF) technology developed in collaboration with Nobel Prize winner Dr. Susumu Kitagawa is one of the representative achievements.
Regarding Rigaku’s current move to Taiwan to establish a subsidiary and technology center, Jun Kawakami bluntly pointed out that it is focusing on the future rapid growth of the semiconductor business. Because Taiwan is the center of the semiconductor industry and its customers include all major wafer foundries, logic and memory manufacturers, and equipment suppliers, it is expected to further strengthen Rigaku's leading position in the semiconductor market.
The establishment of the technology center will enable application scientists and engineers to work directly and closely with customers to understand their current and future technical needs, such as GAA process technology to next-generation transistor structures.. To this end, the center is also equipped with clean rooms and real-life equipment. Customers can bring highly confidential samples to the site, use these equipment for measurements, and work with scientists to develop new solutions, which is crucial for prototype development and verification of new ideas.
Accelerating the growth of semiconductors: taking into account materials and life science applications, increasing talent recruitment in TaiwanRegarding the advantages of Rigaku's global collaboration, Kawakami Jun believes that this can effectively integrate global talents, allowing powerful teams of engineers and scientists around the world in Japan, the United States, and even Eastern Europe to obtain customer needs through the platform of the Taiwan Technology Center, and through this global network, jointly solve customers' most difficult problems.
In terms of business layout, Rigaku not only has a strong semiconductor business in Taiwan, but also has good development in academia and non-semiconductor fields, such as materials science and single crystal analysis. In view of the significant growth in sales in the Taiwan market over the past two years, the company will continue to invest in Taiwan. Among them, the technology center office currently expects to recruit a full complement of applied scientists and engineers within two years.
For this reason, Jun Kawakami specifically mentioned the importance of talent recruitment. Rigaku hopes to leverage its good relationships with professors and students from Taiwan’s universities and colleges to discover and recruit outstanding talents from academia, which will deepen the synergy of “Lab to Fab” and enable laboratory technology and manufacturing applications to be closely connected.