The memory supply crunch continues to rage, fueled by AI data centers' "voracious appetite" for RAM and storage. And in this challenging time for the AI industry, a Japanese plumbing manufacturer is emerging as a promising tech company, and here's why.
The memory supply crunch continues to rage, fueled by AI data centers' "voracious appetite" for RAM and storage. And in this challenging time for the AI industry, a Japanese plumbing manufacturer is emerging as a promising tech company, and here's why.
This is Toto, a giant Japanese plumbing company. This week, British investment firm Palliser Capital acquired a large stake in it , calling it “the most underrated and overlooked beneficiary of AI memory,” The Register reports .
According to the investor, the company has become a “strategically important innovator and supplier of semiconductor materials” thanks to its ceramics division.
It makes electrostatic holders used in cryogenic etching tools for 3D NAND. This niche but vital piece of equipment helps hold silicon wafers in place. The ceramics are designed to remain stable at extremely low temperatures, allowing them to be held securely in place as memory chips become increasingly multilayered and complex.
Palliser says the business is key to the production of next-generation chips. The fund says the semiconductor segment now accounts for more than half of the company’s operating profit, underlining that much of Toto’s real value lies far beyond plumbing.
With AI infrastructure spending still at its peak, any company with even a remote connection to the semiconductor market is in the spotlight.
Palliser believes Toto is undervalued because the market ignores its technological advances. Investors estimate the gap between its true value and market price at $3.6 billion.
