Toto plans to allocate more than half of its capital expenditure to the chip business, seeking to create new growth opportunities amid the AI boom.

(1) Japanese bathroom manufacturer TOTO expects that in the coming years, its chip-related business expenditures will account for more than half of the company's total capital spending, aiming to leverage the artificial intelligence (AI) boom to open up new growth areas. (2) The company is renowned for producing heated toilet seats and smart toilet covers, but it is now benefiting from a surprising surge in demand from chip equipment manufacturers. The latter are seeking TOTO's expertise in ceramic materials, which can withstand dust, corrosive substances, and high temperatures. The global AI investment boom has also fueled sales growth for TOTO's electrostatic chucks (used to secure silicon wafers during chip manufacturing) and other chip materials. (3) TOTO's Chief Technology Officer Ryosuke Hayashi said that the company will build a production system "capable of properly responding to demand," and the capital spending ratio between residential equipment and new business areas will reverse. In the fiscal year ending March this year, spending on semiconductor-related products accounted for 11% of its capital expenditure.