Taiwan’s Marketech International Corp. and Japan’s Sumitomo Machinex have formed a joint venture targeting semiconductor facility solutions, as Taiwan-based companies increasingly look to deepen ties with Japanese partners.
The partnership establishes “Marketech SC Semiconductor,” combining Marketech’s manufacturing expertise with Sumitomo’s Japanese market access. Marketech operates primarily in semiconductor equipment distribution and facility services with annual revenue of about NT$61 billion ($1.89 billion).
The arrangement follows a pattern of Taiwan-Japan semiconductor cooperation that has accelerated over the past year. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. recently opened a research lab with University of Tokyo, while other Taiwanese firms have pursued Japanese partnerships to diversify away from China-focused operations.
Marketech chairman Kao Hsin-ming cited Taiwan’s economic ministry policy promoting “offshore onshore” industrial expansion as motivation for the deal. However, the benefits remain unclear, as Marketech provided few specifics about investment amounts, production targets, or customer commitments.
The timing coincides with Japan’s push to rebuild its semiconductor ecosystem through foreign partnerships, having committed over ¥400 billion in subsidies to attract TSMC and other chipmakers. For Marketech, the venture represents an attempt to expand beyond its traditional Taiwan market, where it faces increasing competition from larger service providers.
