Tekscend Photomask Corp.【JP:429A】Stock Price

Texsendo Photomask is primarily engaged in the manufacturing and sales of photomasks used in semiconductor production. The company manufactures high-precision photomasks to order, handling products ranging from cutting-edge offerings such as EUV photomasks to mass-production items, while also developing new businesses including nanoimprint molds that leverage fine processing technology.

Major customers include semiconductor manufacturers, foundries, and research institutions. The company accepts design data and delivers products from prototyping to mass production on short lead times. Texsendo has established a strong market position in the merchant photomask market, ranking first with approximately 37.8% market share according to SEMI research.

While reported as a single photomask segment, the business is operationally divided into the "photomask business domain" and the "new business domain." The company's product portfolio is diverse, including simple binary masks for light blocking, phase-shift masks for phase control, and next-generation EUV masks, manufactured in sets tailored to customer specifications. The company operates production facilities distributed across Asia, North America, and Europe, enabling it to balance short lead times with flexible supply capabilities.

The company currently holds approximately 37.8% of the global captive photomask market and aims to maintain this position while pursuing further growth. With expansion in the global semiconductor market and rising photomask demand, the photomask market is projected to grow to approximately $5.56 billion in 2024 and $5.85 billion in 2025. The company is pursuing improvements in revenue growth rate and operating margin as key metrics by meeting customer needs in both quality and volume. To address regional market diversification, the company is focusing on building a stable long-term supply system while carefully identifying regional investment opportunities.

The company has clear strategies for both cutting-edge and legacy technology segments as priority investment areas. In cutting-edge technologies, the company is advancing capital investment and talent development for EUV (extreme ultraviolet) and next-generation high-resolution technologies, strengthening technological advantages through multi-beam lithography equipment installation at the Asaka and Dresden facilities and joint development with blanks makers and IBM. In legacy segments, the company is maintaining utilization rates and reducing costs through planned equipment upgrades, securing maintenance parts inventory, strengthening in-house maintenance capabilities, and co-developing alternative parts with emerging vendors, differentiating itself through stable supply to a broad customer base.

In new market development, the company is expanding its nanoimprint mold business leveraging fine processing technology. Targeting optical components such as waveguide molds and metalenses for AR applications, the company is building master mold production systems in Japan and Europe. The company plans to establish a new pilot line at the Asaka facility to support mass production on an OEM and turnkey basis. Additionally, the company is coordinating manufacturing bases worldwide to operate as "a single factory," prioritizing Asia (excluding the US and China) where demand is expected to grow, while pursuing selective investment in China to ensure profitability.

Regarding technology innovation, the company is implementing concrete measures in both next-generation mask research and development and production efficiency improvement. For next-generation EUV and High-NA compatible materials and processes, the company is accelerating development through external partnerships, optimizing supply and demand by automating production delegation between facilities and applying AI to production scheduling. Additionally, as a manufacturing business with significant power consumption, the company is implementing energy-saving measures through equipment upgrades and operational optimization using IoT, aiming to achieve both business expansion and decarbonization.