Global Market Share Survey: Japanese enterprises rank first in the semiconductor materials sector

Japanese companies maintain a high share in silicon wafers

In the silicon wafer sector, Shin-Etsu Chemical ranks first in market share; in the photoresist sector, Japanese companies take the top three spots. In 2025, Japanese companies delivered solid performance in the semiconductor materials field, but fell into stagnation in the automotive sector which serves as their pillar industry...

The 2025 "Survey on Market Shares of Major Goods and Services" released by Nikkei shows that Japanese companies have maintained a high share in semiconductor-related materials. With the popularization of artificial intelligence (AI), memory and graphics processing unit (GPU) manufacturers have made huge investments one after another. Whether Japanese materials enterprises can keep up with this pace through corresponding investments will become the core focus of attention.

In the silicon wafer sector that serves as the foundation of semiconductors, Shin-Etsu Chemical takes the first place with a 26.3% market share, 1 percentage point higher than the previous year. SUMCO ranks second with a 17.8% share, up 1.8 percentage points from the previous year. The combined share of the two enterprises rose by 2.8 percentage points to 44.1%, further widening the gap with the 3rd to 5th ranked enterprises. The latter group is mainly composed of enterprises from Taiwan, Germany and South Korea, whose combined market share dropped by 0.7 percentage points to 31.9%.

In addition, in the photoresist (photosensitive material) sector, three Japanese enterprises including Tokyo Ohka Kogyo, JSR and Shin-Etsu Chemical occupy the top three positions. Their combined market share reached 60.5%, 0.3 percentage points higher than that in 2024.

In the semiconductor manufacturing equipment sector, Tokyo Electron holds a 10.4% share, ranking 4th again after 2024.

While Japanese enterprises maintain advantages in the semiconductor materials field, their presence is still weak in the memory and GPU sectors that occupy the core position of the semiconductor market.

In the DRAM memory sector, South Korea's SK Hynix occupies a 34% share, 1 percentage point higher than that in 2024, rising one place to tie for the 1st position with Samsung Electronics. The 3rd place is taken by US-based Micron Technology, and the top three enterprises jointly account for 92% of the total market share.

The 2025 survey shows that the market share of Changxin Memory Technologies (CXMT) reached 6%, doubling the figure of 3% recorded in 2024. The parent company of Changxin Memory was listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange on July 27, and it is expected to further expand its production capacity in the future.

In the NAND flash memory sector, SK Hynix and Samsung take the top two positions, with a combined market share of 50%. Kioxia Holdings, once the enterprise with the highest market value on the Japanese stock market, ranks 3rd, but its global share dropped by 1 percentage point compared with 2024 to 15%.

The World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization composed of major semiconductor manufacturers predicts that the global semiconductor market size will reach 1.5112 trillion US dollars in 2026, growing by 90% compared with 2025. To avoid having their own market share eroded in this rapidly expanding market, semiconductor manufacturers are pushing forward investments of astronomical scale.

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix announced that they will invest a total of 800 trillion won to build 4 new semiconductor plants in South Korea. US-based Micron Technology announced that it will invest more than 250 billion US dollars in domestic memory production and R&D in the United States by 2035.

For Japanese enterprises that want to hold their market share in the semiconductor materials field where they still have advantages at present, the key lies in whether they can take risks and continue to carry out large-scale investments, just like other semiconductor manufacturers.

Japanese enterprises posted solid performance in the semiconductor materials field, but fell into stagnation in the automotive sector which is their pillar industry. Toyota kept its top position in the industry, but its market share only rose slightly to 12.3%. In the battery electric vehicle (BEV) sector, China's BYD and US-based Tesla are highly competitive, and no Japanese enterprise ranks in the top 5.

In the two-wheeled vehicle sector, Honda maintains the top position with a 36.3% share, but its market share dropped by 1.2 percentage points from the previous year. India's TVS Motor (ranking 4th) and China's Yadea (ranking 5th) are growing rapidly, meaning Honda's leading position is not unshakable.

In the shipbuilding sector, Imabari Shipbuilding climbed from the 6th place in 2024 to the 3rd place. Its market share rose by 2.7 percentage points to 7.2%.

The increase in market share benefits from the completion of large container ships. Imabari Shipbuilding has sufficient orders on hand, and took Japan Marine United (JMU), the second largest domestic enterprise in the Japanese shipbuilding industry, as its subsidiary in January 2026. Relying on scale effects, Imabari Shipbuilding will push forward large-scale investments and R&D of new-generation ships.

From the perspective of economic security, the Japanese government is striving to revitalize the domestic shipbuilding industry and has designated it as one of the 17 key strategic fields. The Japanese government has set a target of nearly doubling the shipbuilding volume to 18 million gross tons by 2035 compared with 2024, and plans to promote 700 billion yen of equipment investment through joint efforts of the government and enterprises in the next ten years.

In the global shipbuilding market, China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) ranks first with a 17.8% share. The second place is taken by South Korea's HD Hyundai Heavy Industries with a 13.7% share. Relying on huge investments, Chinese and South Korean enterprises have seized advantages from Japanese enterprises that used to lead the industry, and have now left Japanese enterprises far behind.

To steadily increase its shipbuilding volume, Japan not only needs to expand investment, but also needs to solve the problem of labor shortage. It is also crucial to attract talents actively while introducing physical AI that can independently control machinery and robots.

This article is from the WeChat Official Account "Nikkei Chinese Net" (ID: rijingzhongwenwang), authored by Nikkei Chinese Net, and published with authorization from 36Kr.