ROHM Appoints New President and CEO 

Longtime ROHM Semiconductor executive Isao Matsumoto has now been appointed president and CEO by the company’s board of directors. 

Matsumoto joined the company in 1985, became a member of the board in 2013, and served as director of the company’s LSI production and product development headquarters. System LSI (or Large Scale Integrated) circuits are a core part of ROHM’s offerings, powering CPUs, memory products and other electronic components integrated on a single chip, ROHM’s website states.

Isao Matsumoto is the president and CEO of ROHM Semiconductor.

 

From 2017 to 2019, Matsumoto led the company’s LSI and wafer production and oversaw quality and safety operations. In May 2020, Matsumoto was appointed president and CEO by the board. According to ROHM’s website, the reason for his designation was the knowledge and experience gained through leading operations in the LSI production department. 

ROHM states, “He (Matsumoto) has a superior ability for quality improvement and production technology, has a global perspective through management at overseas factories, and contributes to improve [the] corporate value of [the] whole group by strong leadership.”

In a message on the company’s website, Matsumoto paid homage to ROHM’s late founder, Kenichiro Sato, who died in January at age 88. Matsumoto also addressed the unprecedented changes arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and the rapid acceleration of technologies like AI and autonomous driving. 

In response to these changes, he added that ROHM is implementing management measures focused on automotive and industrial equipment segments while strengthening its existing analog power capabilities.

ROHM Group’s most recent earnings report notes that while the automotive and industrial equipment markets remain sluggish due to decreased demand in the pandemic, a surge in demand was seen in the consumer product market as the global population moved to remote work and other lifestyle changes. Still, the report stated that the company is strengthening its automotive and industrial product lineups to pursue mid- to long-term growth, while also directing time and resources to analog, power and standard products. 

From April 1 to June 30 of this year, the company reported 80,997 million yen (equivalent to approximately $768,423 USD) in net sales, a 10.8% drop compared to the same period last year. 

In his message on the company’s website, Matsumoto added that ROHM is committed to advocating for reforms in supply chain production. 

“As an officer in charge, I have implemented measures and enhancements related to quality, safety, and production, but the effects of the coronavirus have exposed challenges within the supply chain of the ROHM Group that call for manufacturing reforms, such as optimizing production systems and reducing labor,” he said. “At the same time, we will promote a strong BCM system, including a review of work styles.”

Under Matsumoto’s leadership, ROHM recently unveiled a series of corporate policies promoting sustainability, compliance and socially responsible management practices. These initiatives involve reducing CO2 emissions and water consumption, building devices with low energy consumption, advancing diversity and inclusion, improving labor safety and hygiene, enforcing green procurement compliance and prohibiting the use of conflict minerals such as tantalum, tin and gold in the company’s products.