< The 2014 All-Japan Research Team

Tetsuya Wadaki & team
Nomura
First-place appearances: 1

Total appearances: 11

Team debut: 2004

Advancing to No. 2 after three years in third place is Tetsuya Wadaki, a Nomura analyst whom one portfolio manager describes as “a fount of information.” One favorable trend for this sector, according to Wadaki, is the launch this year of mass production of FinFET chips, a type of transistor with a new shape that can provide improved performance variation and lower power consumption. The production process is complicated so, “to improve yield, device makers will need more wafer processing capacity than originally planned, and process control equipment,” he explains, “which will benefit the relevant equipment makers.” Accordingly, Wadaki has since mid-February been recommending Hitachi High-Technologies Corp. and Hitachi Kokusai Electric. Both Tokyo-based manufacturers provide equipment that is heavily used in FinFET production processes. A separate sectoral shift the researcher has been monitoring is the gradual replacement of laser printers with inkjet printers in the office equipment space, he says. Inkjet color printing costs are significantly cheaper, and the overall performance of these machines is improving, he notes. On this front, Nagano-based Seiko Epson Corp. earns Wadaki’s favor because the manufacturer is making inroads into the office printing market by offering inkjet models specially designed for use in that setting.