A N N U A L R E P O R T 1 9 9 9

Industrial
Materials
Toppan has used its
original development
strengths in printing
technologies and
materials to develop
high-value-added
industrial materials, with an emphasis on such products as
decor sheets and wallpaper. We have leading shares of the
markets for these products, which we supply to residential
builders and manufacturers of construction materials.
The Company‘s sales in this field declined 7.2% during the
year under review, to ¥40.3 billion (US$333.1 million). The
principal reasons for the decrease were a large drop in housing
starts caused by the lengthening slump in the domestic economy
and a sluggish market for renovation work. However, solid
expansion is being recorded by ecological products, to which
we are now devoting considerable resources, and by exports,
especially to the United States and Europe. Based on these factors,
we expect our business in this field to grow in the near
future. Toppan Ecosheet, a non-PVC decorfilm, continued to
record a strong performance and steadily expanded its market
share. Toppan Ecowall, a non-PVC wallpaper product, is used
in an expanding range of applications, especially by residential
builders.
In a difficult operating environment marked by a sluggish
residential construction market, Toppan is conducting aggressive
marketing of high-value-added products, centered on its
mainstay decor sheets and wallpaper. These marketing activities
are based on the key words of environment, quality, comfort,
and efficiency, which express our commitment to
manufacturing products with low environmental impact, to
offering design and quality that facilitate the creation of comfortable
spaces, and to providing materials that are space efficient,
easy to install, and user
friendly.
In addition to printed
products, we are also devoting
our attention to sales of other
residential materials and sales of
unit systems. As one facet of
these activities, in fall 1998 we
introduced an integrated system
for interior finishing and fixtures
in next-generation condominiums
that features significant
cost savings.
The government’s economic
stimulus measures are expected
to lead to a recovery in housing
starts sometime in 1999. As
demand recovers, Toppan will
take a thorough, wide-ranging
approach to environmental and
quality control measures and
offer customers products with
higher added value.
60
40
20
0
SALES
(Billion ¥)
’95 ’96 ’97 ’98 ’99
Electronics
Toppan offers a wide
range of electronicsrelated
products based
on its original precision
fabrication technologies.
We are a leader in
the global markets for semiconductor photomasks and leadframes,
color filters for LCDs, and shadow masks for CRTs.
During the year under review, Toppan‘s sales in the electronics
field declined 8.7%, to ¥132.6 billion (US$1,095.9 million).
Due to the lengthening economic slump and the accompanying
cutback in investment, the production levels of industrial electronic
equipment and consumer electronic products remained
unchanged from the previous year. The semiconductor market
was sluggish, and the display market was adversely affected by
reductions in CRT inventories. Conditions continued to be difficult
throughout the year. The principal reasons for the decline in
the Company‘s performance in this field were weak demand for
leadframes, printed wiring boards, and shadow masks as well as
declines in prices due to the poor market conditions.
For semiconductor-related products, favorable results were
recorded by sub-0.18 micron line photomasks, but leadframes
were adversely affected by market conditions. Currently, we are
making preparations for the start of the mass production of two
new semiconductor package types: plastic BGA and tape BGA.
The launch of these new products will significantly reinforce our
presence in semiconductor packaging markets.
For display-related products, demand for high color purity
resist color filters increased significantly due to larger screen sizes
on notebook computers, the expanding use of LCDs on desktop
computers, and growth in the market for color LCD monitors.
As a result of these factors, our performance in color filters was
favorable during the year under review.
In the years ahead, Toppan will continue to maintain a rapid
pace of focused investment in electronics. In color filters, we will
work to achieve further advances in size and color purity. During
the year under review, we installed a new line at our Niigata plant
for the production of glass plates up to 650 mm by 750 mm, each
of which will yield six 14-inch filters. In order to further raise precision
and increase production capacity for high-definition shadow
masks for personal computer CRT displays, we plan a significant
level of capital investment at our Kumamoto plant. For semiconductor-related
products, having installed a new line at our Shiga
plant that we are using to produce
high-precision photomasks for
next-generation semiconductors,
we will continue to devote
resources to the development and
preparation for the mass production
of new types of packages.
The further expansion of our
electronics component operations
will remain one of our top priorities.
Toppan will provide an advanced
response to the range of performance
and quality standards that
will accompany continued
progress in LCDs and semiconductors.
At the same time,
Toppan will continue to work
actively to foster the technological
innovation that underlies the
creation of new added value.
150
100
50
0
SALES
(Billion ¥)
’95 ’96 ’97 ’98 ’99
17