Lasertec's Research: Five Machines and One Number

Section 6 of 第2 事業の状況 in Lasertec corporation's annual securities report for its 63rd fiscal year, July 2024 to June 2025, filed on EDINET on September 25, 2025, is headed 研究開発活動, research and development activities, and occupies page 21 of 109. It is the company's most recent annual securities report in the EDINET document list the desk read on September 21, 2026. Its second-to-last sentence carries the number a reader comes for: 当連結会計年度の研究開発費の総額は、11,677百万円であります — total research and development expense for the year was 11,677 million yen (US$71.3 million). Its last sentence answers the question of segments: なお、当社グループの事業は、検査・測定機器の設計、製造、販売を行う単一のセグメントであるため、セグメントごとの記載は省略しております — the group's business is a single segment, the design, manufacture and sale of inspection and measurement equipment, so the description by segment is omitted. What the section prints instead of a segment table is three paragraphs on technology and a list of five new products.

The first paragraph names the technology. 当社グループの技術は、光応用技術をコアに、エレクトロニクス、精密機構、及び画像処理などの周辺技術を融合させたオプトメカトロニクスと呼ばれる複合技術 — the group's technology is a composite the report calls opto-mechatronics, with applied optics at the core and electronics, precision mechanisms and image processing around it — used in all product development, with 半導体マスク欠陥検査装置, semiconductor mask defect inspection systems, マスクブランクス欠陥検査/レビュー装置, mask blank defect inspection and review systems, レーザー顕微鏡, laser microscopes, and EUVマスク欠陥検査装置, EUV mask defect inspection systems, as the representative products. The third paragraph lists the optical core technologies as 共焦点光学系、DUV(注)光学系、EUV(注)光学系、及び光干渉計技術, confocal optics, deep-ultraviolet optics, extreme-ultraviolet optics and optical interferometry, and beside them 高精度高速ステージ開発のための精密機構技術, precision mechanism technology for high-precision high-speed stages, 欠陥検出の画像処理技術, image processing for defect detection, and 近年ではAI技術を応用した自動欠陥分類の開発, the development in recent years of automatic defect classification using AI. The second paragraph is about where product ideas come from: service and support for customers and research institutes that already have machines, and 顕微鏡の営業活動などを通じて幅広い業界、市場を調査し, surveying a wide range of industries and markets through, among other things, the sales activity for microscopes.

The list is introduced as 当連結会計年度における研究開発の成果として発売された新製品, new products released during the year as results of research and development, and has five entries. The first two are for the EUV mask. 「EUV マスクブランクス欠陥検査/レビュー装置 ABICS E320シリーズ」: the E320 adopts 新たに設計した高倍率シュバルツシルト光学系, a newly designed high-magnification Schwarzschild optical system, and an optimised illumination system, and the report compares it with 従来機の「E120」, the previous machine, on defect detection sensitivity and defect coordinate accuracy for EUV mask blanks. 「EUV ペリクル異物検査装置 PELMISシリーズ」 inspects particles on the EUV pellicle attached to an EUV mask, a demand the report ties to 近年のEUV市場の拡大, the recent expansion of the EUV market, and adds 異物の付着場所の表裏自動判別, automatic determination of whether a particle sits on the front or the back, with inspection of the pattern area and the area outside the pattern.

The other three reach beyond the mask. 「SiCウェハ欠陥検査/レビュー装置 SICA108シリーズ」 replaces the inspection optics of 従来機の「SICA88」 for higher throughput and, in the report's words, improvement of SiC wafer quality understanding and cost of ownership, and carries 当社独自のディープラーニング技術を応用した高精度の欠陥分類・判定機能, defect classification and judgement using the company's own deep-learning technology. 「IR コンフォーカルマイクロスコープ OPTELICS IR」 pairs confocal optics with high-brightness infrared illumination for non-destructive, non-contact observation and measurement, and the market it is written for is アドバンスドパッケージング, advanced packaging, with アライメントズレ測定、ボイド検査や接着剥がれの観察, alignment-shift measurement, void inspection and observation of delamination, as the uses. 「電気化学反応可視化コンフォーカルシステム ECCS B520」 is for batteries: the paragraph opens with research on all-solid-state batteries and the high confining pressure that sulfide-based ones require, and says the B520 applies メガパスカル級の圧力, megapascal-class pressure, uniformly to the object while allowing Operando観察・計測, operando observation and measurement.

The 62nd report, filed September 27, 2024, printed the same section on page 18 of 99 with that year's figure, 12,165百万円 (US$74.3 million), and three new products. 「高輝度EUVプラズマ光源 URASHIMA」 is a light source: an LPP, laser-produced plasma, source that fires a laser at rapidly rotating liquid tin, designed for the optics of ACTIS, with 当社が独自に開発したデブリミチゲーションシステム, the company's own debris mitigation system. 「アクティニックEUVパターンマスク欠陥検査装置 ACTIS A300シリーズ」 uses that source and newly designed optics, is compared with 従来のA150シリーズ, and is written for both current-NA and High-NA lithography, whose anamorphic optics require different resolution in the X and Y directions. 「ビア深さ測定装置 VIANCAシリーズ」 measures the etch depth of high-aspect-ratio small-diameter vias, and the report places it in HBM manufacturing, where TSV, through-silicon via, technology is being driven to smaller diameters and higher aspect ratios. The desk set the two years' prose, from the heading to the product list, side by side after removing whitespace: the 63rd report's three paragraphs are the 62nd's, with the parenthetical expansions of DUV and EUV moved out of the sentence into a note and one full-width slash written half-width, so that what changes between the two years is the product list and the number.

The number appears again in the notes to the consolidated statements. Note ※4 on page 66 lists 販売費及び一般管理費のうち主要な費目及び金額, the principal items of selling, general and administrative expenses, and 研究開発費 is the largest line: 12,165 and 11,677 million yen (US$74.3 million and US$71.3 million) for the years to June 2024 and 2025. The other lines are 貸倒引当金繰入額, provision for doubtful accounts, 14 and 114 (US$0.1 million and US$0.7 million); 給料及び賞与, salaries and bonuses, 3,410 and 4,047 (US$20.8 million and US$24.7 million); 賞与引当金繰入額, provision for bonuses, 173 and 107 (US$1.1 million and US$0.7 million); 役員賞与引当金繰入額, provision for directors' bonuses, 1,060 and 907 (US$6.5 million and US$5.5 million); 退職給付費用, retirement benefit expenses, 127 and 72 (US$0.8 million and US$0.4 million); and 販売手数料, sales commissions, 2,686 and 618 (US$16.4 million and US$3.8 million). The note's second sentence gives the classification: 研究開発費は全て一般管理費に含まれております — research and development expense is included entirely in general and administrative expenses.

The income statement on page 57 prints the whole block, 販売費及び一般管理費, at 26,103 and 25,413 million yen (US$159.4 million and US$155.1 million), against 売上高 of 213,506 and 251,477 (US$1,303.5 million and US$1,535.3 million), 売上総利益 of 107,479 and 148,256 (US$656.2 million and US$905.1 million) and 営業利益 of 81,375 and 122,843 (US$496.8 million and US$750.0 million). The report prints no ratio of the expense to sales, and this piece computes none.

The 62nd report's note on page 56 carries the year before: 研究開発費 of 10,977 and 12,165 million yen (US$67.0 million and US$74.3 million) for the years to June 2023 and 2024, beside 販売費及び一般管理費 of 21,726 and 26,103 (US$132.6 million and US$159.4 million) on its page 48 income statement and 売上高 of 152,832 and 213,506 (US$933.0 million and US$1,303.5 million). Three printed values, then: 10,977, 12,165 and 11,677 million yen for the years to June 2023, 2024 and 2025 (US$67.0 million, US$74.3 million, US$71.3 million). The 62nd report's management analysis on page 14 also gave the figure a sentence: 研究開発費につきましては、EUVマスク欠陥検査装置等の開発及び性能向上等に使用したことにより、121億65百万円（前連結会計年度比10.8％増加）となりました — research and development expense, used for the development and performance improvement of EUV mask defect inspection systems and other products, was 121億65百万円 (US$74.3 million), up 10.8 percent, and named it as the main reason selling, general and administrative expenses rose 20.1 percent to 261億3百万円 (US$159.4 million), 12.2 percent of sales. The 63rd report's analysis on page 17 prints sales by item and then operating income; in the extracted text of that page the desk found no sentence on research and development expense, and the year's figure is read from page 21 and note ※4.

The parent company's own statements print a slightly larger figure under the same label. On page 96, in 主な販売費及び一般管理費の内訳, the breakdown of the parent's selling, general and administrative expenses, 研究開発費 is 12,168百万円 and 11,754百万円 (US$74.3 million and US$71.8 million) for the years to June 2024 and 2025; the 62nd report's page 86 prints 10,989 and 12,168 (US$67.1 million and US$74.3 million) for the two years before. In each of the three years the parent's line exceeds the consolidated line, and 3【事業の内容】 on page 5 places design and manufacture of the equipment with the parent, 連結財務諸表提出会社（以下「当社」という）が行っております, sales and service in North America and Europe with Lasertec U.S.A., Inc., sales in Japan and Asia with the parent, and service in Korea, Taiwan, China, Singapore and Malaysia with the four Asian subsidiaries named on page 6, three of which, Lasertec Korea Corp., Lasertec Taiwan, Inc. and Lasertec China Co., Ltd., are also described there as providing 販売支援, sales support. The desk does not reconcile the two lines; the chart plots the six printed values.

Where the money goes is described in the analysis rather than in the section. Under ｂ．資本の財源及び資金の流動性 on page 20, the main demand for funds is materials, subcontracting and labour for manufacturing, and 他社と差別化するための研究開発投資に必要な材料費及び労務費, materials and labour needed for research and development investment that differentiates the company from others; 直近においては、EUV関連製品などに対する研究開発投資と、高水準な受注残への対応として、仕掛品への支出を行っており — most recently the spending has gone to research and development investment in EUV-related products and to work in progress against a high order backlog. The next item, ｃ, states the yardstick: 営業利益率20％以上を維持しつつ、積極的な研究開発で成長機会を追求することを基本方針 — the basic policy is to keep the operating margin at 20 percent or above while pursuing growth opportunities through active research and development. Both reports go on to say that the medium-term plan is reviewed every year, 外部環境の変化に迅速に対応するために中期経営計画の見直しを毎年行っており, and that achieving the tasks in it is the indicator of progress; the 62nd report's sentence on page 17 opened with a qualification, また当社グループは、数値目標などは開示しておりませんが, which the 63rd's sentence on page 20 does not carry.

The plan itself is on page 8. 当社グループは、2025年6月期から2030年6月期の6カ年を対象とする中期経営計画を策定しています — a six-year medium-term plan from the year to June 2025 to the year to June 2030, with the policy 圧倒的な開発スピード、高い技術力、顧客との強固な信頼関係の構築により売上最大化とさらなる成長を目指す, overwhelming development speed, high technical capability and strong customer trust, for maximum sales and further growth. Its second heading is ② さらなる成長へ向けた研究開発の推進と体制づくり, promoting research and development and building the organisation for further growth, with three lines under it: 人材採用の強化と職場環境の整備, stronger hiring and the working environment; 新たなソリューションによる事業領域の拡大, expanding the business domain with new solutions; and 事業規模拡大を支える体制の強化, strengthening the organisation that supports a larger business. The paragraph above it explains the manufacturing arrangement in the same terms: より研究開発に特化した組織体制とするためにファブライト戦略を採り、製品製造の多くを協力会社に委託しています — a fab-light strategy, with much of the manufacturing entrusted to partner companies, so that the organisation can specialise further in research and development. It also sets the margin floor for a downturn: 市場縮小に見舞われた状況下でも営業利益率20％以上を堅持し、成長投資の継続が可能となる強固な財務並びに事業基盤の構築.

One research figure in the report is a target, and it sits in the sustainability section. Page 14 defines グリーン製品, green products, as three product groups, EUVマスク関連装置 / パワー半導体関連装置 / リチウムイオン電池関連装置, EUV mask-related, power-semiconductor-related and lithium-ion-battery-related equipment, and prints under グリーン製品への研究開発投資額 the target グリーン製品に関わる分野で、2024年6月期から2028年6月期の5年間で合計500億円以上の投資, at least 500億円 (US$305 million) of investment in those fields over the five years from the year to June 2024 to the year to June 2028, and, in the 2025年6月期実績 column, 2024年6月期からの累計 210億円, a cumulative 210億円 (US$128 million) from the year to June 2024. The 62nd report's table on page 11 printed the same target without a results column. The plan's word is 研究開発投資, investment, and the section's is 研究開発費, expense; within the pages read, the desk has not found a sentence tying the two, and does not treat them as one quantity.

The people are counted on page 7. 従業員数 for the group was 1,163 at June 30, 2025, against 1,017 a year earlier in the five-year table on page 2, and the note gives one reason: 当連結会計年度の従業員の増加の主な理由は、研究開発、装置立上げ及びサービス体制を強化するための採用によるものであります — the main reason for the increase is hiring to strengthen research and development, equipment start-up and the service organisation. The parent had 516 employees, average age 40.1, average tenure 8.3 years, and 平均年間給与 of 16,808,225円 (US$102,614), with the same hiring note. Risk item (3) on page 15 begins 当社グループは研究開発型企業であり, the group is a research-and-development company, and names the loss or non-recruitment of engineers as the risk; page 12 describes two training formats for the technical division, 開発会議, a development meeting where the progress and results of development projects and new technical information are presented, and Design Review, where engineers from various departments join the discussion of new functions and technologies; page 14 counts them, 8 proposals at the development meeting and 424 Design Reviews in the year to June 2025, against targets of 25 and 500 for the year to June 2027. The 62nd report's page 11 counted 10 and 597 for the year to June 2024.

Risk item (2) 研究開発による影響 on page 15 describes how development is organised. 最先端の顧客と技術ロードマップを共有いただく — leading-edge customers share their technology roadmaps — and 営業だけでなく社内エンジニアが主体となって顧客との強固な信頼関係を構築, in-house engineers rather than only sales staff build the customer relationship; 先端開発室を設置し、技術開発部門を部門横断的にサポート, an advanced development office has been set up to support the technical development departments across divisions. The risk the item names is that the company cannot meet the technical level or schedule a customer requires, or that a competitor gets ahead with a new product. Item (5) says intellectual property strategy is pursued 研究開発の初期段階から, from the early stage of research and development; item (7) singles out the parts that are hard to replace, 特に光源や光学部品の一部, some light sources and optical components, whose supply interruption would affect research and development as well as production. Separately, page 19 names three major customers and their shares of sales: Intel Corporation at 33.3 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited at 26.3 percent and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. at 19.9 percent; the risk item does not say which customers share their roadmaps.

The laboratory is in the plant section. 第3【設備の状況】 on page 22 puts the year's capital investment at 5,037百万円 (US$30.8 million), against 2,533百万円 (US$15.5 million) in the 62nd report, and its book-value table lists two sites, both in 神奈川県横浜市港北区, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama. 本社, the head office, described as 開発・製造設備 and 統括業務設備, development and manufacturing facilities and head-office functions, carries 建物及び構築物 of 2,151 million yen (US$13.1 million), 機械装置及び運搬具 of 2,763 (US$16.9 million), 工具、器具及び備品 of 802 (US$4.9 million), land of 4,254 (US$26.0 million) on 4,872 square metres, その他 of 94 (US$0.6 million) and a printed total of 10,067 million yen (US$61.5 million), with 299 employees. Lasertec Innovation Park, described as 開発・製造設備, carries buildings of 8,600 million yen (US$52.5 million), machinery of 1,735 (US$10.6 million), tools of 230 (US$1.4 million), land of 8,891 (US$54.3 million) on 15,829 square metres, other of 110 (US$0.7 million) and a printed total of 19,567 million yen (US$119.5 million), with 217 employees. The totals are the table's own; the desk does not add the columns.

The 62nd report's table had the same two sites at 9,202 and 18,450 million yen (US$56.2 million and US$112.6 million) with 358 and 121 employees, and machinery of 1,866 and 367 (US$11.4 million and US$2.2 million). Page 4 dates the second site: 2023年7月 新研究開発拠点「Lasertec Innovation Park（通称：InnoPa）」の稼働を開始, the new research and development base began operating in July 2023. The plan item on page 22 reads 当連結会計年度末現在において重要な設備の新設、除却等の計画はありません, and risk item (10) on page 16 notes that the head office and the research and development base are in the same district.

Two more sentences in the report attach research to money without a figure. The dividend policy on page 28 says retained earnings are to be used for 新技術・新製品の研究開発投資, research and development investment in new technologies and new products, investment in facilities and working capital as the business expands, and the hiring of talented people. Under the sustainability strategy on page 9, the materiality item 持続可能なサプライチェーン is explained by the same arrangement as the plan: 当社は自社の経営資源を研究開発に集中投下し、製品製造については外部の協力会社に委託するファブライト戦略を採用しております — the company concentrates its own resources on research and development and entrusts manufacturing to outside partners — and the item 人材を活かす組織体制・風土 says 研究開発に携わる人材の育成と確保が極めて重要, developing and securing people who work in research and development is extremely important. Neither sentence carries an amount, and the desk attaches none.

Method. The desk located the two annual securities reports in the EDINET document-list API, for September 25, 2025 and September 27, 2024, retrieved them as PDFs through the document API, S100WQ7F at 109 pages and S100UFKD at 99, and read page 21 of the first and page 18 of the second for the section; pages 57, 66 and 96 of the first and pages 48, 56 and 86 of the second for the income statement, note ※4 and the parent's breakdown; and pages 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 14, 15, 16, 19, 20, 22 and 28 of the first and pages 2, 11, 14, 17 and 19 of the second for the indicators, history, business description, plan, sustainability, risks, analysis and facilities, with pdfplumber. The facilities tables were read with table extraction, keeping whitespace, to assign values to columns. The two sections' prose was compared after removing whitespace. Every figure is as printed, in the unit printed; the only arithmetic is the conversion of yen to US dollars at ¥163.8 = US$1, for reference.