Printers & peripherals

Global printer leader (~29-40%); LaserJet and inkjet/MFP. LaserJet marking engines sourced from Canon.

Japanese printer maker; PrecisionCore inkjet printheads, chassis and paper-feed mechanisms.

Japanese electronics/ceramics group; crystal devices and oscillators (incl. former AVX/Kyocera Crystal Device line).

Japanese maker of laser/inkjet printers and feed mechanisms.

Camera maker; die-casts magnesium-alloy and molds polycarbonate camera bodies.

Fujifilm Holdings Corporation (Tokyo; TSE: 4901; ~¥3.6 trillion revenue) is an aggressively expanding EUV photoresist supplier, targeting approximately 10% of the global EUV resist market through its Electronic Materials division. Fujifilm's EUV resist production facility is at Yoshida-Minami, Shizuoka, Japan. Fujifilm's pivot from consumer photography (film and cameras) to semiconductor chemicals and medical imaging systems is one of the most dramatic industrial transformations in Japanese corporate history — the same company known for photographic film for 90 years is now developing photoresist for 13.5nm EUV lithography. Fujifilm's photochemistry expertise from film manufacturing transferred directly to photoresist development.

Hong Kong-listed (SEHK: 179) precision motor manufacturer; HQ in Hong Kong with primary production in China. Produces micro-motors, BLDC motors, and actuators for automotive, industrial, and home appliance applications. Annual revenues ~$3B. Specializes in smaller BLDC motors for dishwasher pumps, refrigerator fans, and small appliance drives. Supplies major appliance brands globally including Whirlpool, Bosch, and LG.

Laser-printer and toner maker (Chinese-owned via Ninestar/Xerox deal).

Dominant maker of small brushed/brushless DC motors for printers, cameras, automotive and appliances.

Eindhoven, Netherlands-based semiconductor company (NASDAQ: NXPI); the dominant supplier of CAN bus transceivers and automotive microcontrollers used in agricultural ECUs. TJA family CAN transceivers (TJA1042, TJA1050, TJA1040) are the de facto standard in automotive AND agricultural CAN bus networks — every ISOBUS-compliant ECU and implement controller contains NXP CAN transceivers. S32K series Arm Cortex-M automotive MCUs support CAN FD (up to 8 Mbps) and ISO 26262 functional safety (ASIL B/D); widely used in tractor zone ECUs, body control, and electrification. ISOBUS (ISO 11783) is built on CAN bus (ISO 11898); NXP dominates the transceiver market that underpins every ISOBUS communication on every modern tractor, combine, and implement. Also major supplier for automotive ADAS, V2X, and RF systems.

World's largest manufacturer of small precision electric motors (TSE: 6594, HQ Kyoto); founded 1973 by Shigenobu Nagamori. Dominates hard disk drive (HDD) spindle motors (nearly 100% global market share for decades) and is aggressively expanding into BLDC motors for home appliances and EV traction motors. Annual production exceeds 1 billion motor units across all categories. Key BLDC divisions: Nidec Motor Corporation (US, household appliances), Nidec Global Appliance (Brazil, formerly Embraco). The same Nidec that makes the spindle motor in every hard drive also makes the BLDC motor in washing machines and is building the next generation of EV traction motors.

Largest maker of compatible/remanufactured printer cartridges and cartridge chips (Apex/G&G brands).

World's largest automotive microcontroller manufacturer by unit volume. Controls ~30% of automotive MCU market. A March 2021 fire at Renesas's Naka fab (Japan) destroyed cleanroom equipment and directly worsened the global automotive chip shortage that cost automakers $210B in lost production. Renesas is also the world's third-largest MCU vendor overall.

Japanese office-imaging maker; engines and industrial inkjet printheads.

Franco-Italian semiconductor company (NYSE: STM, HQ Geneva); produces SLLIMM (Small Low-Loss intelligent Molded Module) IPM family for home appliances (0-5 kW motor drives) — washing machines, HVAC fan motors, refrigerator compressors. >10% global appliance IPM market share. STMicro is jointly owned through cross-shareholdings by French and Italian governments — a strategically important semiconductor company that is partially state-owned. Primary fab in Catania, Sicily (Italy) and Crolles, France. Also produces SiC power devices for EV applications (same facility).

UK maker of industrial piezoelectric inkjet printheads for ceramics, packaging, coding and advanced/functional printing.