Reports claim that top executives of iPhone maker Apple have booked extended hotel stays in an effort to come to terms with memory manufacturers Samsung and SK Hynix and secure a memory supply that will last between two and three years. For a company that ships iPhones in millions, reaching an agreement is of paramount importance. Other PC and smartphone makers like Google, Microsoft and Dell have also been reportedly visiting Samsung’s and SK Hynix’s headquarters to secure sufficient DRAM supply. The ongoing memory crisis has made the shares and revenue of these companies touch new heights. Interestingly not just pure-play memory product companies, shares of also of those in related businesses are at all time high. Case in point are several Japanese companies. Shares of Japanese toilet maker Toto are at their 52-week high. Toto shares have reportedly gained the most in five years. Reason is AI after booming memory demand excited expectations of growth in Toto’s little-known chipmaking materials operations. According to a report in Bloomberg, the stock surged as much as 11%, its steepest rise since February 2021, after Goldman Sachs analysts said that Toto’s electrostatic chucks used in NAND chipmaking will likely benefit from an AI infrastructure buildout that’s tightening supplies of both high-end and commodity memory. The company’s new domain business accounted for 42% of its total operating income in the fiscal year ended March 2025, Bloomberg-compiled data show.
Analysts upbeat on Toto and others
Incidentally, Japan’s long history in chip production has led many companies, including unlikely names like consumer product manufacturers, to build out semiconductor-related operations. MSG seasoning inventor Ajinomoto produces chip insulating films — a business that arose from its command of amino acids. Cosmetics firm Kao, which sells facial cleansers, also has a chip wafer cleaning business.Analysts Sachiko Okada and Sayako Tominaga raised their rating for Toto to Buy from Neutral, citing hopes for “significant profit growth” from the company’s chuck-making business. The memory industry’s “tight supply/demand environment” will be a tailwind, they said.Toto is known for its heated toilet seats, the maker of washlets has for decades been. The company has been a part of the semiconductor and display supply chain via its advanced ceramic parts and films. According to Toto’s website, company’s electrostatic chucks — which it began mass producing in 1988 — are used to hold silicon wafers in place during chipmaking while helping to control temperature and contamination,Technology companies including Meta Platforms and Amazon are investing hundreds of billions of dollars into data centers for artificial intelligence services, triggering widespread shortages of semiconductors. That’s spurring memory makers around the world to ramp up production, from SK Hynix to Samsung Electronics and Kioxia Holdings, and lifting demand for products such as Toto’s.
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