Japan Tech Conglomerates "Hardware above software still" Yasui

Research evidence excerpt

Japan Tech Conglomerates "Hardware above software still" Yasui

Global Research

14 May 2026ab

Japan Tech Conglomerates Equities

JapanHardware above software still

Technology

Kenji Yasui

AI demand structure is unchanged Analyst

The expansion of coding AI has led to a sharp increase in demand for tokens and AI kenji.yasui@ubs.com

inference, and the fundamentals of AI data centre-related businesses are likely to remain +81-3-5208 6211

robust. We believe growth in AI-related hardware demand is likely to continue, including

for semiconductors, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, electric power, and

high-performance packaging. However, the performance of coding AI is advancing not

only through Anthropic Mythos but also via multiple product launches and

improvements from OpenAI's Squad and China's Kimi, among others. Concerns about

software-related businesses, including the "death of SaaS" narrative, are likely to

persist. In the domestic IT services market, the greatest risk factor appears to be the shift

by customers toward in-house development.

Among tech conglomerates, focus on SoftBank and SONY

We think growth in SoftBank's share price is likely to be driven by ARM due to capturing

AI inference demand and the growing business value of OpenAI, due to accelerated

monetisation from stronger coding AI. SONY has managed to offset the negative impact

of DRAM price hikes, which was the most concerning issue before the full-year results

announcement, through price increases. Furthermore, the share price is currently at a

low level that, in our view, excessively reflects concerns about content value erosion due

to AI. Panasonic's share price mostly reflects positive factors such as data centre BBUs

and structural reform effects, pushing it down in terms of preference.