TOKYO -- Toto, Japan's top toilet maker, is expanding its decades-old business of making parts for semiconductor manufacturing equipment, capitalizing on broader use of ceramics in the production of cutting-edge chips.
Toto's ties to semiconductors date back to the 1980s, when it developed high-performance fine ceramics for the industry. The business remained unprofitable for many years, but finally started to flourish in the 2020s, with operating profit jumping in fiscal 2022 as the semiconductor market boomed.
