Komatsu nurtures prized chip equipment unit despite lack of synergy

TOKYO -- Despite Komatsu's reputation for industrial and construction machinery, one of its most valued units is involved in a field having little to do with the group's core operations: chipmaking.

Komatsu's key production hub in Oyama, Tochigi prefecture, churns out hydraulic equipment, diesel engines and other mainstay products for the world. But the campus is also home to the headquarters of Gigaphoton, which produces a key component for semiconductor-manufacturing equipment.