From glass screens in Kyoto to wafer-cleaning systems: SCREEN’s century-and-a-half technology path
SCREEN traces its roots to Saijiro Ishida’s 1868 printing works in Kyoto. Research into glass screens for photographic reproduction led to Dainippon Screen Mfg. Works in 1937 and the incorporation of Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. in 1943.
The original ‘screen’ referred to finely ruled glass plates used to create halftone images for printing, not electronic displays.
The early business looks very different from the company visible today. Following the milestones in order shows which decisions changed SCREEN Holdings’s direction and which capabilities remained constant.
Domestic glass-screen production created the company
Keizo Ishida’s team succeeded in producing photographic glass screens in Japan, reducing reliance on imported equipment and giving the future SCREEN group its name.
This was an important turning point because it expanded what SCREEN Holdings could offer or the markets it could address. The effect becomes clearer when viewed as part of the longer sequence of changes that followed.
Printing technology opened the door to electronics manufacturing
SCREEN extended expertise in surface processing and imaging from graphic arts into equipment for electronics and semiconductor production.
In semiconductor and electronics markets, this kind of capability compounds over time. Manufacturing know-how, yields, supplier relationships and process experience are difficult to recreate quickly, so each generation can strengthen the next.
Wafer cleaning became a major semiconductor franchise
The company developed equipment for cleaning silicon wafers between fabrication steps, an increasingly demanding task as chip features became smaller.
In semiconductor and electronics markets, this kind of capability compounds over time. Manufacturing know-how, yields, supplier relationships and process experience are difficult to recreate quickly, so each generation can strengthen the next.
A 2014 holding-company restructure preserved the SCREEN name
Dainippon Screen Manufacturing shifted to a holding-company structure and became SCREEN Holdings in October 2014.
The AI era increased the value of capabilities SCREEN Holdings had already been developing. Compute, data, networking, software or infrastructure that once served narrower workloads became relevant to much larger AI systems.
Advanced packaging added another semiconductor frontier
SCREEN has expanded from front-end wafer processes into technologies relevant to advanced packaging while retaining businesses in graphic arts, displays and printed-circuit-board equipment.
The AI era increased the value of capabilities SCREEN Holdings had already been developing. Compute, data, networking, software or infrastructure that once served narrower workloads became relevant to much larger AI systems.
Why a printing company’s surface science still matters to chips
As of 18 September 2026, sCREEN Holdings is now a diversified production-equipment group whose largest strategic exposure is to semiconductor manufacturing.
The company’s current position is therefore the result of accumulated technical and commercial choices rather than one breakthrough product. That is the context future coverage should preserve.
For TechnologyBlog.co.za, this page is intended to serve as the company-history cornerstone for future SCREEN Holdings coverage, so product and company-news articles can link back to one factual brand background instead of repeating the full origin story.
Primary sources reviewed include SCREEN Holdings’ official 1868–present history, corporate profile and investor FAQ. Official company identity cross-checked against http://www.screen.co.jp.
