Blog+ | Nisshinbo Micro Devices | Norio Yoshida

Norio Yoshida

He joined Ricoh Company, Ltd. in 1981 and participated in the launch of Ricoh's semiconductor business. Over the following four decades, he built an extensive career in the semiconductor industry. As an engineer and manager, he gained experience in front-end semiconductor manufacturing engineering, equipment engineering, product engineering, manufacturing process development at research laboratories, and the establishment of outsourced front-end production in various Asian countries. He later served as a Senior Manager, overseeing production technology for both front-end and back-end semiconductor processes, as well as overall manufacturing operations, including production control and procurement. He also served as a lecturer on etching technology for more than 20 years at seminars organized by SEMI. At Nisshinbo Micro Devices Inc. (formerly Ricoh Electronic Devices Co., Ltd.), he contributed to sales strategy initiatives and became known as one of the company's "storytellers," sharing its history and heritage.

Read More

24 Jul

Wafer Process

Advanced Logic Semiconductors: CPUs, GPUs, MPUs, MCUs, and SoCs

Published: July 24, 2026

This is the second installment in a special edition of our series, “Miniaturization and Horizontal Specialization in the Semiconductor Industry.”In this post, I take a..

Norio Yoshida
Read More

07 May

Wafer Process

Miniaturization and Horizontal Specialization in the Semiconductor Industry (Special): Roots, Definitions, and Types of Advanced Logic Semiconductors

Published: May 7, 2026

Two posts ago, I mentioned that advanced logic semiconductors are the product category in which horizontal specialization has progressed the most among various types of..

Norio Yoshida
Read More

14 Apr

Wafer Process

Horizontal Specialization in the Semiconductor Industry—Horizontal Specialization by Product and Country (Part 2: By Country)

Published: April 14, 2026

In the last volume, I mentioned that horizontal specialization has not necessarily advanced across all product fields. This time, I will discuss how horizontal..

Norio Yoshida
Read More

25 Mar

Wafer Process

Horizontal Specialization in the Semiconductor Industry—Horizontal Specialization by Product and Country (Part 1)

Published: March 25, 2026

I’ve been talking about horizontal specialization in the semiconductor industry. This time, the topic is that horizontal specialization has not necessarily advanced across..

Norio Yoshida
Read More

10 Mar

Wafer Process

Horizontal Specialization in the Semiconductor Industry—Is a Foundry Just a Subcontractor?

Published: March 10, 2026

In the previous volume, I discussed foundries that specialize in front-end contract manufacturing. In Japan, “contract manufacturing” is often associated with the term..

Norio Yoshida
Read More

16 Feb

Wafer Process

History of Horizontal Specialization in the Semiconductor Industry–Emergence of Foundries

Published: February 16, 2026

In the last volume, I discussed fabless semiconductor companies that specialize in design. In this volume, I will discuss the historical background of the emergence..

Norio Yoshida
Read More

11 Jul

Wafer Process

History of Horizontal Specialization in the Semiconductor Industry—Emergence of Fabless Semiconductor Companies

Published: July 11, 2025

In the previous volume, I outlined the horizontal specialization in the semiconductor industry and showed the growing presence of fabless semiconductor companies. In this..

Norio Yoshida
Read More

16 Jun

Wafer Process

Horizontal Specialization in the Semiconductor Industry and the Rise of Fabless Companies

Published: June 16, 2025

At the beginning of Volume 1, I described, “I would like to start about major trends in the semiconductor industry. As for the major trends, I will focus on..

Norio Yoshida
Read More

23 May

Wafer Process

Shift to Larger Diameter Silicon Wafers (Part 3): Reasons and History

Published: May 23, 2025

So far, I have discussed silicon (Si) itself and silicon wafers. In this final volume of the “Shift to Larger Diameter Silicon Wafers” series, I will talk about the main..

Norio Yoshida
Read More

17 Apr

Wafer Process

Shift to Larger Diameter Silicon Wafers (Part 2): How Silicon Wafers Are Made

Published: April 17, 2025Updated: February 2, 2026

In the previous volume, as a prelude to discussing silicon (Si) wafers, I talked about how silicon, a common material, became a main player. This..

Norio Yoshida
Read More

20 Feb

Wafer Process

Shift to Larger Diameter Silicon Wafers: How a Common Material, Silicon, Became a Main Player

Published: February 20, 2025Updated: December 2, 2025

In the series on miniaturization from the first to the previous volumes, I primarily discussed the “device” aspect of semiconductor devices. In..

Norio Yoshida
Read More

30 Jan

Wafer Process Miniaturization

Semiconductor Miniaturization and Analog Circuits

Published: January 30, 2025Updated: July 3, 2025

This is the final volume of the miniaturization series. In this volume, I will discuss the miniaturization of analog circuits.

Norio Yoshida
Read More

14 Feb

Wafer Process Miniaturization

Semiconductor Miniaturization: Limitations of MOSFET Scaling

Published: February 14, 2024Updated: June 23, 2025

In the previous volume, I talked about how miniaturization in accordance with MOSFET scaling brings great benefits to digital circuits. In this..

Norio Yoshida
Read More

14 Feb

Wafer Process Miniaturization

Semiconductor Miniaturization: What Is MOSFET Scaling?

Published: February 14, 2024Updated: June 5, 2025

As the last topic related to semiconductor miniaturization, I would like to talk about something a little more technical and theoretical. I will..

Norio Yoshida
Read More

26 Jun

Wafer Process Miniaturization

Semiconductor Miniaturization and Semiconductor Devices

Published: June 26, 2023Updated: May 20, 2025

So far, I have used the words “semiconductor devices” to explain semiconductor miniaturization but have not explained them. In this volume, I would..

Norio Yoshida

1 2