Seiko Epson Corporation
Electronic Devices
The core of the Epson Group's electronic devices businesses are formed by compact, energy-saving, and high-precision crystal devices, semiconductor devices, and high-temperature polysilicon TFT panels.
To continue moving steadily forward in these businesses in a rapidly changing market environment, the Epson Group has launched initiatives designed to strengthen its business platforms. To gather background and find out more about the initiatives being driven, we spoke with Torao Yajima, the managing director who oversees the Group's device businesses.
Seiko Epson Corporation
Managing Director
General Administrative Manager, Electronic Devices Business Center
Torao Yajima
There is no denying that our electronic device businesses were hit hard this year by the recessionary wave that erupted with the financial crisis in the U.S. and then swept across the globe. Device markets rapidly cooled as many of our customers launched inventory adjustments. However, these inventory adjustments appear to be winding down, and we are now seeing demand for electronic devices steadily pick up. Having said that, I don't think we can grow our electronic device businesses unless we make some changes. The market has become a very different place. To roll with the changes and to continue to grow and prosper, Epson established, in March 2009, a strategic vision called "SE15." SE15 defines how we want to be as an enterprise in 2015. The goal is to become "a community of robust businesses." We have decided to concentrate our management resources on areas where we can capitalize on our strengths and to strengthen the business foundations in each.
Broadly speaking, we are involved in three device segments: crystals, semiconductors, and high-temperature polysilicon TFT panels. All of these devices have certain competitive advantages, but it has grown more difficult to maintain an edge in the market by driving advances in these device categories separately. Therefore, we are looking to play upon Epson's strengths and combine these technologies to create unique new added value and provide highly competitive solutions. Device usability is the key to creating added value. While it is important to understand the needs of the market and create products that meet those needs, making these products easy to use is essential for increasing the value of the product. In other words, instead of providing devices as standalone products, we want to create solutions by combining our devices with the necessary peripheral hardware, software, or other technology. To realize such solutions, we will need to strengthen collaboration among the different R&D organizations and combine the various technologies in a way that best meets customer needs. A number of projects to achieve this are currently under way. In semiconductors we intend to pursue greater device convergence, developing chips that can be used in sets together with crystal devices and high-temperature polysilicon TFT panels.
Right now we're focusing particularly sharply on the quartz sensors business because new services are springing up in the fertile ground of communications networks and driving sensor demand growth. We already provide a variety of quartz sensors, including pressure sensors and gyro-sensors, which detect angular velocity. We intend to increase the added value of our sensors byusing them in combination with semiconductor technologies. If we provide sensors with integrated signal processing circuitry that is optimized to them, we can significantly lighten the load on design engineers.(Figure 1)
Design engineers will be able to focus on application development and allocate more time toward product development. This should represent value for customers.
Our quartz sensors and signal processing chips both have unique advantages.
The QMEMS that we use in quartz sensors are produced in a photolithography-based microfabrication process that has been refined over more than three decades, putting our technology head and shoulders above that of the rest of the industry. Our QMEMS devices are being applied in the timing device segment, in products such as cell phones, which are becoming increasingly compact and high-performance, and communications base stations, where both superior accuracy and stability are essential.
Our semiconductor devices boast strong low-power technology. Having experience in the development of wristwatch ICs whose power consumption is an order of magnitude smaller than that of ICs for ordinary electronic devices, we have accumulated a storehouse of know-how in the engineering of low-power electronic circuits. By combining these two strengths, we should be able to deliver solutions that not only are easy to use but also provide significant added value in terms of performance and functionality.
High-temperature polysilicon TFT (HTPS) panels are a type of ultra-miniature liquid crystal display that can present high-resolution images. In October of 2009 we announced the Ultimicron, a color HTPS panel for electronic viewfinders used in digital SLR cameras. Measuring just 0.47 of an inch across, the panels provide SVGA resolution. The extremely high pixel densities of these panels means that they provide enough clarity for focusing, something no other electronic viewfinders have had the resolution to do. We are presenting digital SLR camera manufacturers with proposals for a set that includes the HTPS panel in combination with a panel controller and crystal opto-devices of optical components (Figure 2).
While we are currently proposing device sets, we plan to develop modules and systems in the future, making these a core revenue stream. I think we can achieve considerable growth by establishing a micro-device business unit that handles standalone devices and a micro-systems business unit that handles modules and systems. We welcome customers in new market segments and customers with special requirements, because these are the type of customers with whom we can create new markets. We're going to develop some exciting new products going forward.
Nikkei Business Press cooperated in this article
Copyright © SEIKO EPSON CORP 2009