Kyocera is more than doubling its capex and R&D budget to $9.78 billion over the three years March 2022-26, Kyocera’s President Hideo Tanimoto told the Nikkei Asia.
Kyocera will expand its investment in semiconductor-related production and other businesses, increasing total capital spending and research and development to 1.3 trillion yen ($9.78 billion) over the three fiscal years through March 2026, roughly doubling its previous three-year plan.
The Japanese electronics group will raise part of the funds by pledging its KDDI shares as collateral for the first time while borrowing up to 1 trillion yen. Kyocera President Hideo Tanimoto recently revealed the plans to Nikkei.
Having maintained a debt-free management policy, Kyocera will make aggressive investments in areas including ceramic components as it expects the chip market to expand over the medium term. The company plans up to 900 billion yen in capital expenditures, about double the amount over the past three years, and aims to spend 400 billion yen on R&D, a 60% increase.
In Kagoshima prefecture in southern Japan, Kyocera is investing about 60 billion yen to construct a new semiconductor package production facility. In Nagasaki, the company is constructing its first new domestic plant in about 20 years, since the start of operations at its Ayabe factory in Kyoto. Tanimoto said the company plans to “invest up to 100 billion yen to produce ceramic components and semiconductor packaging,” with the new plant set to begin operating in 2026.
The area is located near other chip plants such as that of Sony Group and is near an expressway interchange and other transportation infrastructure. In Vietnam, meanwhile, Kyocera is expanding factories producing multifunctional machines and quartz components.
