The mobile telephone market which is said to have spread in 1billion sets a year scales all over the world. High function of a telephone such as television and Internet, a settlement function advances rapidly, too. KOIKE, electronic parts materials maker at Ichobata-Chuo-shi, produces "a Lithium Tantalate wafer" that is used for a frequency filter of a mobile telephone accomplishing evolution year by year, and has world share by the production in the neighborhood of 60% (President Mr. Hikaru Koike ).
As for the world mobile telephone market, in new economy countries like Brazil, Russia, India and of China, the spread advances rapidly, and replacement demand to a high-performance model rises in Europe and USA.
A Lithium Tantalate wafer is used for a filter to narrow down the frequency that is necessary for transmission and reception of a mobile telephone. A conventional mobile telephone carries around 3,4 parts which the wafer is used for, but a high-performance type, so-called "the third generation" that is becoming widespread rapidly in late years, carries 5,6 parts.
By growth of the mobile telephone market and high function, demand for parts-materials swells out greatly, and the company maintains the increase in production capacity by positive investment in plant and equipment. Furthermore, the company aims at acquisition of share 65% by a plan to perform an additional investment of 300million yen scale, ahead of schedule, toward the next spring.
A wafer type, called as "pyro-free" (anti-electrostatic board) that is a Lithium Tantalate wafer the company produces, restrains electrostatic outbreak. The company concluded licensing agreement for "pyro-free wafer" with an US company in 2003 and succeeded in mass production for the first time in the world.
President Koike explains why the company has acquired a high share, is attributable to the factor that as well as evaluation to pyro-free, high processing technique such as slicing or polishing matches a demand of the third-generation mobile telephone, and KOIKE’s wafer is accepted favorably by customers.
The former president Mr. Kazuo founded the company in 1955, and dealt with crystal processing for electronic parts materials from the first and expanded a business with the spread of PCs. Mr. Hikaru to act as the president from 79, in a basic idea "customer/quality the first", undertook experimental production positively and took in the most advanced technology and information. Such a posture led to early entry and share expansion to a new market.
Recently the company concluded that a prospect stood for development of an optical component for next-generation DVD that the company pushed forward as a new business for 1 year and six month, and now hurries to construct the production system in order to make it a new pillar business of the company.
