Let me tell you about TEL’s growth, starting with the revenue trend. The company’s net sales have nearly quadrupled over the past decade, from approximately 600 billion yen in FY2015 to an estimated 2.4 trillion yen in FY2025. This surge in sales was the result of the semiconductor market expanding from approximately $300 billion a decade ago to more than $600 billion last year, driven by advances in cloud/edge computing, IoT, and Industry 4.0 etc. With the emergence of new applications such as AI, autonomous driving, and AR/VR, the semiconductor market is expected to exceed $1 trillion by 2030. It took 76 years for the market to reach its current size, but the industry consensus is that it will take only a few more years to double that growth.

What’s remarkable is that TEL’s growth has outpaced the market. While the wafer fab equipment (WFE) market in which we operate grew 3.1 times, TEL’s sales grew around 4 times. Our profitability also improved, led by favorable sales. TEL has been able to ride this wave of growth by working closely with global semiconductor manufacturing customers and contributing to semiconductor technology innovation. Together with our customers, we developed and implemented the 10-year technology roadmap to achieve this growth.

At the time I joined, TEL was still building the foundation of the company we know today. Direct overseas operations were just begun and customer satisfaction programs were being implemented. We all felt that we were on the verge of entering a global market.

But it was in the last decade that more significant changes began to take place. Prior to 2010, there was speculation that advances in software would make hardware less important. What actually happened was that semiconductors were recognized as the driver of both hardware and software, and the semiconductor market grew by leaps and bounds. TEL outperformed the market by making sound investments in response to market changes and delivering results. Our changes over the past decade have been truly amazing, but the market will continue to grow, and so must TEL. We should increase our awareness of where the semiconductor industry is going and how we can contribute to society, and also update the organization to accommodate further growth.

I totally agree. When we joined the company in 1995, the sales were only about 300 billion yen and there weren’t that many employees, so we all knew each other and made friends easily (laughs). As semiconductor innovation and market growth continued, TEL also underwent a major transformation.

At the Yamanashi site in Japan where I was assigned during my rookie years as a development engineer, most of my colleagues were dedicated workers who really enjoyed what they were doing. I think none of them felt obligated to work; they just loved it.

Research development at TEL is quite technology-intensive, and each project requires everyone to be fully engaged, both as an engineer and as a team member. Of course, no one is treated differently based on gender or nationality. We also understand that it takes a team to develop a product. When members with sharp minds get together and bring their respective areas of expertise to the table, they can come up with ideas for great products. Because they have the same goal, they put all their knowledge and experience into the project and talk things through. It has always been TEL’s tradition that unique characters take the lead.

As an IT and HR systems consultant, I have worked with many different clients, including TEL. Even to an outside observer, TEL’s culture of respect for unique individuals seemed palpable. I felt that TEL was full of people who clearly knew what they wanted to accomplish and were passionate about their work, even arguing heatedly in the interest of creating excellent products. This impression did not change after I joined TEL.

When Segawa-san and I joined TEL in 1995, the company was still small and everyone worked with unwavering commitment. Direct overseas operations were just begun, and many of my colleagues who joined at the same time as I did were sent to Europe and the U.S., along with plant staff. Even those whose English wasn’t too good were given the chance to go overseas if they really wanted to. I didn’t take that chance because I was in domestic sales. So, I have never worked overseas (laughs).

We all felt that the overseas markets were becoming much closer during those years. In the first decade of the 2000s, a product development site in the U.S. became fully operational, and there was an increase in the number of projects in which Japanese and local members worked together.

After joining TEL, I was given the opportunity to work overseas. Later on, as an HR specialist, I also visited various overseas TEL sites. In all of these locations, I felt that there was a mutual respect between the headquarters and the local sites. TEL’s commitment to providing customers with better products and technical services is shared in every location around the world. People from different backgrounds work together diligently and support each other regardless of nationality. No one works against each other or tries to claim credit, and they speed things up by working together. I think this chain of support creates a positive atmosphere throughout the company.

As we strive to refine technologies to satisfy customers and compete globally, we must improve teamwork by aligning the goals of all members, regardless of nationality. From an early stage, TEL has worked hard to get very diverse team members on the same page.

The semiconductor market is expected to reach $5 trillion by 2050, and TEL aims to be number one in the market. Our key products already have the world’s leading or second-largest market shares, which we want to increase and secure in preparation for future technology inflections. It is imperative for us to develop and introduce new equipment that has the potential to expand our market. To achieve this goal, we are formulating and implementing technology strategies in cooperation with the development team led by Segawa-san.

Global market share rankings

The technology innovation cycle in the semiconductor industry is shorter than anywhere else. That is precisely why we should motivate engineers and keep their passion for technology alive. Engineers who fully engage with and take ownership of the projects at hand can unleash an extraordinary level of potential, magnifying their impact many times over. It is up to us to create an environment where engineers can use their skills to the fullest and take on one challenge after another. The other day, an engineer who won an internal technology award said, “I’ve had countless failures in my career, but I’m still here, continuing to develop technology and even winning an award!” No one wants to fail, but success in technology development is not guaranteed. Still, failure can be a valuable experience, and I want TEL to remain tolerant of productive failure.

Creating opportunities to take on new challenges means investing in growth where appropriate. It is the role of corporate leaders, including myself, to provide this kind of support.

When I worked as a development engineer, I never had a negative reaction from others to anything I proposed as a challenge. Of course, the green light was often given when there was a good expectation of achieving operational business milestones, but adventurousness was definitely encouraged. We are also proud that TEL leads its peers in the number of patents it holds and the percentage of employees who are first named primary inventors. We will continue to strive to ensure that engineers who love technology see TEL as a place with a mountain of opportunities where they can do as much as they are motivated to do and find it an interesting environment.

Today’s semiconductor manufacturing processes increasingly require unconventional technologies. For example, the application of new technologies such as AI and environmental innovations to manufacturing processes has not been significantly highlighted within the industry so far. But expertise in these areas will soon be essential, so we will need the professionals. The term “semiconductor manufacturing equipment” covers a wide range of processing systems, each of which requires completely different technologies. In fact, a single system represents a cornucopia of technologies, so we need to coordinate all kinds of technology areas. We have mid-career hires from really diverse backgrounds, including a former food manufacturing worker now in chemical analysis, and an ocean color researcher who brought us expertise in spectral resolution technology. Our talent pool is very diverse and exciting.

The range of technologies required is indeed vast, although we cannot go into detail because many of them involve confidential customer information.

Bringing standards from other industries into semiconductors and combining them with existing technologies is how we create new products and deliver the innovation expected of us. In addition to people from other industries, I very much welcome the younger generations, whose approach to IT is different from ours. As TEL is an inclusive company, I expect diversity to continue to grow in terms of technology, generation, and gender.

Many of our mid-career hires say they are impressed with TEL’s global and freewheeling spirit, as well as its culture that considers inaction riskier than failure. It shows that the company’s environment is suitable for adventurous transferees from other industries. TEL’s inclusiveness and flat organization are evidenced by the fact that all managers and employees address each other as “-san,” and every employee has the opportunity to interact with members of the management team since its founding, unlike the so-called traditional and rigid Japanese companies. No matter how diverse our workforce becomes, our mindset remains united because we share a code of conduct and values called the TEL Values.

That’s right, we uphold the five values of Pride, Challenge, Ownership, Teamwork, and Awareness. If you feel that any of these values are lacking, I encourage you to take corrective action anytime, anywhere. TEL expects its employees to live these values at all times.

In many cases, mid-career hires are often required to jump right into the field and start working, which can sometimes lead to a lack of attention and support for them. We believe it is necessary to implement measures to promote a comfortable working environment, such as holding networking events for mid-career hires as a means of providing follow-up support. Additionally, it is important to create learning opportunities for everyone, as this is essential for all individuals' growth.
TEL has initiatives that incorporate a mentorship system. For example, in South Korea, where the number of female engineers is low currently, we have introduced a mentorship program that connects them with female engineers in the U.S. and Japan. There are many talented individuals around the world who can fill the gaps in certain regions. We plan to expand initiatives that utilize our global talent. While listening to the voices from the field, we want to continue considering the necessary measures.

We are part of a generation that has seen first-hand how advances in semiconductor technology have made our lives more convenient and more comfortable. I believe that technology makes the world a better place, which is why I became an engineer in this industry. Today, as various technologies mature, creating a green society through digital technology has become a new goal for all of us. From a greening perspective, the existing manufacturing technologies have a lot of room for improvement. Because semiconductors are so widely used today, it is essential to produce semiconductors that are not only faster, more reliable, and with greater memory capacity, but also consume less power and are more environmentally friendly.

One of TEL’s strengths is that we have a lot of engineers who are hungry for innovation. I was discussing about technology trends becoming more green at an internal meeting the other day, and one engineer said, “I’m glad I’ve been introduced to this new paradigm because it gives me new development ideas to explore.” We are all very serious about making the world a better place through our business.

You are absolutely right. Our technologies and our business must contribute to the happiness of people and the continued growth of society. We should always ask ourselves what we can do to make that happen and keep challenging ourselves.

That is why we need more people who are not afraid of a challenge. TEL is becoming more global in every way, so I’m sure that proactive people who join us will benefit from a wider range of opportunities. The timing is ideal for the right people to join TEL, and once they become part of our team, a brighter future will follow.

I think I speak for all of us when I say that we love TEL. I just want this company to be a magnet for future generations of people.

My feeling exactly. Let’s do what we can in our respective positions to make it happen!