Japan’s TOTO, long associated with its toilet business, is emerging as an increasingly important supplier of key semiconductor components.
Like TOTO, Bloomberg notes that Japan’s long-standing semiconductor industry has led a wide range of companies, even those outside traditional tech sectors, to develop chip-related businesses. For example, Ajinomoto, best known for MSG seasoning, leverages its expertise in amino acids to produce insulating films for semiconductors, while Kao has also expanded into wafer cleaning alongside its core personal care products.
This last bit was actually super interesting to me to discover this isn’t just a one-off oddity.
Japanese industry is famous for exploiting local expertise.
Companies you should diversify what they do within the area of their expertise. You don’t want to go diversifying in areas that are too far outside your expertise because then you you can’t leverage the excess you already have to do things, but if you’re within your expertise, that means that if the one thing doesn’t work out because the economy is down, maybe that other part is working well and you can still make money.
Yamaha is a good example of taking your core skillset and growing into adjacent, unrelated industries by using overlapping manufacturing talent.
Yamaha is a bad example as they are in too many non-overlapping industries. It works for them, and can work for you, but in general it is best to focus more than they do. Of course as you get large you have more experts and so you can expand. Just because pianos have nothing in common with ATVs doesn’t mean Yamaha shouldn’t be in both, but if you are not as large as they are the lack of overlap means you can’t personally be a deep expert in both.
It makes more sense after watching the video.
And yet, they make the best instruments and motorcycles.
Kawasaki makes cranes and motorcycles, Honda makes rockets and scooters and cars. Do seriously think the same people managing and making instruments are making motorcycles?
or, exploiting local expertise.
I did not have “toilet shortage due to AI” on my bingo card.
It’s ok, we can shit with Grok.
Our piss will cool the datacenters.
First they came for the toilet paper, and I did not speak out, because I own a bidet.
Then they came for the toilets.
And I did not speak out, because…
Computer shopping really has gone to shit…
Introducing the new home deepot diy toilet kits!
You’ll find 35 nails, a hacksaw, 3 2x4’s and a bag of Portland cement!
Step1) using the hacksaw cut the following patterns from the 2x4’s. Don’t worry if they’re all warped to hell, you can easily plane that off on your automatic planer…
