Technology: Toilet Maker Toto Hikes Capex to Meet AI Demand for Its Ceramics

Japanese toilet maker Toto Ltd. expects spending in its chip-related operations to make up more than half its total capex in coming years, as it chases new gains from an artificial intelligence surge.

3. Juni 2026 um 12:29 Uhr / Mari Kiyohara, Bloomberg

This picture taken on February 16, 2024 shows urinals at a factory of Japanese toilet manufacturer Toto in the city of Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture. Bild: Philip Fong / AFP via Getty Images

The maker of heated toilet seats and bidets is capitalizing on an unexpected surge in demand from chip gear makers seeking Toto's expertise in ceramics designed to withstand dirt particles, corrosive materials and high temperatures. A global rush in AI spending is lifting sales of Toto's electrostatic chucks, which hold silicon wafers in place during chip fabrication, and other materials used in chipmaking.

Toto will prepare a production environment where "we can respond to demand properly," Chief Technology Officer Ryosuke Hayashi said in an interview. Now that the company has completed its large-scale expansion plans in the US and China, the ratio of spending on its housing equipment operations versus spending on new business domains will flip, he said. Toto's spending on semiconductor-related products accounted for 11% of capex in the fiscal year ended in March.