February 25, 2008, Oyama, Japan--Gigaphoton, a lithography light source manufacturer for the global semiconductor industry, is expanding its presence in the United States with a new subsidiary, Gigaphoton USA, to be located in Beaverton, OR.
Slated to open this April, Gigaphoton USA will substantially strengthen support for the company's growing U.S. customer base, according to the company. This expansion follows on the heels of heightened adoption of Gigaphoton's laser light sources by several major U.S. device manufacturers, and the impending growth opportunities the U.S. market yields. The company currently claims 40% market share worldwide.
Heading Gigaphoton USA as President and CEO will be Hitoshi Tomaru. In this role, Tomaru is responsible for all U.S. operations. Prior to this appointment, he most recently served as Gigaphoton's corporate vice president and the general manager for U.S. and Europe operations where he oversaw market development in the U.S., sales and support. Prior to joining Gigaphoton, Tomaru held various high-level and general management positions at Komatsu.
"With one-fifth of the worldwide market in the U.S., we're fully committed to establishing our presence in the microlithography arena here, not only to enhance our support capabilities for our current customer base, but also to reach the new opportunities the market continues to hold," Tomaru said. "As a result, Gigaphoton remains committed to developing superior light source solutions to enable the product roadmaps of our U.S. customers."
Currently, Gigaphoton has customer support bases in Fishkill, NY; Austin, TX; and Newberg, OR. The new Beaverton facility will replace the present office in Newberg, providing service and support for the existing laser in the U.S., customer training and technical support for U.S. customers.