< The 2015 All-Japan Research Team
Kenji Yasui
UBS
First-place appearances: 0
Total appearances: 4
Team debut: 2012
For a fourth year in a row, Kenji Yasui of UBS earns the No. 3 position on this lineup. The “Internet of Things” — whereby objects are connected to a network via electronics, sensors and software — offers the biggest opportunity for Japanese industrial electronics developers right now, advises Yasui, 37. Companies in this sector provide the network’s infrastructure and the information technology services that make the connections and analyze the data, he notes. Mitsubishi Electric Corp. remains among the researcher’s preferred names. The Tokyo-headquartered manufacturer’s motor-related operations, which represents the majority of its business, make everything from escalators, generators and railway products to air conditioners, auto parts, factory automation systems and power semiconductors. Accordingly, it will benefit as networks incorporating the Internet of Things gain momentum and seek increasing power-consumption efficiency, he believes. “These systems are likely to be applied increasingly widely,” contends Yasui, “starting with individual pieces of equipment but eventually in entire factories, across towns and cities, countries and ultimately around the world.” Moreover, Mitsubishi Electric is also a beneficiary of the yen’s prolonged weakness, since 40 percent of its sales derive from outside the country, and half of those transactions are for products made in Japanese factories.