Corporate Research: Bearing Makers — NSK (Nippon Seiko) and NTN

The spindle of a machine tool, the joints of an industrial robot, a car's wheels and drive shaft, the nacelle of a wind turbine — every "rotating part" of every machine has a bearing inside it. Without this small component, which reduces friction and holds a rotating body in precise position, neither precision positioning nor high-speed rotation would be possible. Japan's bearing market has long stood on two legs — NSK (Nippon Seiko) as the domestic #1 and among the top global makers by share, and NTN as the domestic #2 and the world's #1 in automotive constant-velocity joints — but on May 12, 2026, the two companies announced a basic agreement to integrate their businesses under a jointly established holding company. With Sweden's SKF, Germany's Schaeffler, and other Western makers dominating the top ranks, and cost competition intensifying as Chinese makers rise, a shared sense that "we can't compete alone" pushed Japan's #1 and #2 all the way to a full business integration. This piece first lays out the differences in company scale, products, and technology strategy between the two companies as they stood before integration, then looks at what the integration actually involves and what it means for the industry map.

NSK (Nippon Seiko)

NTN

Images: NSK Logo.svg / NTN Corporation Logo.svg, both Wikimedia Commons (public domain; logos judged to consist of simple shapes/text not eligible for copyright protection — trademark rights apply separately).

Company History: Japan's First Mass-Production Bearing Maker, and a Company Founded by a Young Engineer in Kuwana

NSK (Nippon Seiko) was founded in November 1916 in Yurakucho, Tokyo, as Japan's first mass-production bearing maker. Its founder, Takehiko Yamaguchi, set out to mass-produce domestically made bearings after observing a nail factory during a trip to the United States, and achieved Japan's first mass production of rolling bearings in 1917, followed by the domestic production of bearing-grade steel balls in 1926. In 1961 it established a technical center in Fujisawa to strengthen R&D, and in 1964 it supplied journal bearings for the Shinkansen; starting with its 1971 entry into France, it expanded into Europe and North America through the 1970s and 80s, then into China and India in the 1990s, diversifying from a bearing-only business into automotive steering, precision equipment, and mechatronics. Since the long-term vision "Vision 2026," formulated in 2015, it has been working to rebuild its management foundation through successive mid-term management plans (including MTP2026).

NTN's origins trace to 1918 in Kuwana, Mie Prefecture, where a then-21-year-old engineer, Jiro Nishizono, began ball-bearing research and manufacturing at Nishizono Iron Works. In 1923 it partnered with Osaka's Tomoe Trading Company and began manufacturing and selling domestically made bearings under the "NTN" trademark, and it was incorporated as a company on March 19, 1934. After the war it entered the automotive constant-velocity joint (CVJ) field early and captured the world's top share, marking its 100th anniversary in 2018. As Japan's "second-oldest bearing maker," two years younger than NSK, it's headquartered in Kyomachibori, Nishi Ward, Osaka, and has built its business on twin pillars — bearings, and drivetrain components (constant-velocity joints and hub bearings).

What the two companies share is that both started out before the war as fundamental components supporting Japan's heavy industry, and both grew in scale alongside the postwar boom in the automotive industry. Then in 2026, both companies — each with more than a century of history — take a major step in the face of "a wall neither could clear alone": full business integration.

Comparing Company Scale: Five-Year Trend

NTN has slightly outsold NSK in revenue in most periods, but NSK's swings in operating and net profit have been larger. NSK saw profit decline for a stretch after peaking in FY2023/3, before turning to recovery in FY2026/3. NTN fell to a net loss in FY2025/3 due to a large one-time loss, but returned to profitability in FY2026/3 thanks to a weaker yen and structural reform and price improvements.

Primary-source figures for NSK's FY2022/3 operating profit could not be confirmed, so ordinary profit is shown instead in parentheses (a sharp recovery, up 408.6% year-on-year). Figures were cross-checked across both companies' earnings reports, earnings-briefing materials, and coverage such as Nikkei's reporting on those results.

In the standalone global bearing market, NSK and NTN each sit roughly in the world's top five, alongside European leaders SKF (Sweden) and Schaeffler (Germany). Multiple reports have shown that, if the integration goes through, the simple combined figure would surpass world-leading SKF in scale — and that is the single biggest aim behind the deal.

Comparing Core Products

Bearings Themselves

Both companies are full-line bearing makers built around ball bearings and roller bearings, offering a wide range of bearings by application across industrial machinery, automobiles, railways, aircraft, and wind turbines. Since supplying journal bearings for the Shinkansen in 1964, NSK's strength has been large bearings for rail and industrial machinery, and its Fujisawa plant concentrates production of industrial-machinery bearings for wind turbines and aircraft. NTN, built around precision machining and inspection technology at the 0.01-micron level, covers a wide range from household appliances to aerospace and rocket applications.

Automotive Parts: Steering (NSK) vs. Constant-Velocity Joints (NTN)

The two companies' flagship automotive products are a study in contrast. NSK has long built its automotive-parts business around steering systems (components for electric power steering, etc.), but in its MTP2028, announced in May 2026, it has signaled a policy of excluding the steering business from its management targets and pursuing a restructuring of that business together with a strategic partner. NTN holds the world's top share in automotive constant-velocity joints (CVJ) and maintains a world-leading position in hub bearings and drive shafts as well. A constant-velocity joint transmits engine or motor rotation to the wheels while also following the up-and-down motion of the suspension and changes in steering angle — a field NTN has treated as one of its founding businesses and kept strengthening for nearly a century.

The Next Growth Area: NSK's "Robotics" vs. NTN's "Aftermarket"

The two companies' mid-term management plans point toward entirely different next growth engines. NSK exhibited humanoid-robot actuators at the 2025 International Robot Exhibition (iREX) and announced a goal of bringing them to market by 2028; in August 2026 it signed an MOU for a strategic partnership with robotics venture Atom, and has also begun humanoid-robot demonstration trials and physical-AI data collection at its own factories. In MTP2028, NSK positions robotics as a new profit pillar, going beyond supplying components like bearings and ball screws to developing and supplying the actuators that make up a robot's joints. NTN, by contrast, has set out in its mid-term plan "DRIVE NTN100 Final" (FY2024–2027) a goal of raising the share of its aftermarket business — maintenance and repair parts — to 20% by 2027 and 40% by 2036, targeting an improvement in operating margin from 3.4% to 6.0% by 2027. It's a contrast between opening up new demand (NSK) and strengthening the revenue around existing products (NTN).

Differences in Technology Strategy and Strengths

NSK's technology strategy centers on expanding into new domains built on top of its existing bearing business. Its entry into robotics symbolizes this, repurposing existing core technology in bearings and ball screws toward actuators for humanoid robot joints, seeking to broaden its business model from supplying components to designing and proposing mechanical components. New EV-oriented products like the low-friction hub-unit bearing likewise compete on friction reduction directly tied to improved energy efficiency — a design fought on ground where a bearing maker has a natural edge.

NTN's technology strategy focuses on deepening its founding technology in constant-velocity joints and drivetrain components, and rebuilding its revenue structure. The high-efficiency fixed-type constant-velocity joint "CFJ" is a product that boosts efficiency at the high-torque, low-speed range EVs operate in, adapting to the shift in power-transmission methods from internal combustion engines to EVs. At the same time, as "DRIVE NTN100 Final" shows, in the wake of the one-time loss that pushed it to a net loss in FY2025/3, NTN's top priority is stabilizing revenue through structural reform of its automotive business and a higher aftermarket ratio. Rather than technical flash, restoring "earning power" first is the foundation of NTN's current technology and business strategy.

Development and Manufacturing Sites

Beyond its headquarters (Osaki, Shinagawa Ward, Tokyo), NSK operates a distributed set of domestic production sites for industrial-machinery bearings, automotive bearings, needle roller bearings, steering components, and more. NTN is headquartered in Kyomachibori, Nishi Ward, Osaka, and while its bearing production sites are concentrated in the Tokai region around Kuwana City, Mie Prefecture — its founding location — its constant-velocity joint (CVJ/drive shaft) production sites are in Shizuoka and Okayama. The map below shows the domestic sites that could be confirmed (overseas sites and all business offices are out of scope).

Business Strategy and Outlook: An Unusual Move — Merging the Domestic #1 and #2

On May 12, 2026, NSK and NTN announced a basic agreement to integrate under a jointly established holding company. Under the scheme, both companies would sit under the holding company, which is scheduled to be established in October 2027. NSK President Akitoshi Ichii voiced a sense of urgency along the lines of "we can envision a situation, three or five years out, where — under our current business structure — we could no longer stand on our own as separate companies," while NTN President Yasuo Fujiwara framed the need for integration as "we need to pool our technology, people, and business foundations to strengthen our international competitiveness." Behind this is the declining share of Japanese makers as Western giants like SKF, Schaeffler, and Timken continue to dominate the top ranks, and intensifying cost competition as Chinese makers rise. If the integration goes through, the simple combined revenue of the two companies would come to roughly ¥1.7 trillion, and their simple combined global share would work out to about 24%, surpassing SKF (about 18%) — for Japan's bearing industry, this is a reshaping of the industry map in which the domestic #1 and #2 become one company entirely.

On its own, NSK laid out in its mid-term management plan "MTP2028" (announced May 13, 2026, a separate matter from the integration agreement with NTN) a policy of making robotics a new profit pillar while separating the steering business from its management targets and pursuing its restructuring with a strategic partner. On its own, NTN has set out in "DRIVE NTN100 Final" a goal of achieving 8% ROE through a higher aftermarket ratio and structural reform of its automotive business. How these two mid-term plans get reconciled after integration is something that will be worked out going forward, ahead of the joint holding company's establishment in October 2027.

References

• NSK (Nippon Seiko) official site / Investor Relations
• NTN official site / Investor Relations
• NSK's History
• History of the NTN Group
• NSK and NTN reach basic agreement on business integration via joint holding company - automation-news.jp
• NSK and NTN move toward bearing-industry reorganization: what the two top executives said about their sense of crisis - MONOist
• Nippon Seiko and NTN integrate businesses, aiming for world's top bearing maker amid reorganization pressure from high costs - Nikkei
• NSK-NTN business integration, and the harsh business environment behind it - Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association-affiliated body
• NSK FY2026/3 earnings briefing, Mid-Term Management Plan 2028 (PDF)
• NSK earnings: Nippon Seiko's FY2026/3 net profit revised up to ¥20 billion - Nikkei
• NTN FY2026/3 earnings: back to net profit, helped by a weaker yen - Nikkei
• NTN's FY2024 revenue of ¥825.5 billion, continuing structural reform - kikai-news.net
• NTN new mid-term management plan "DRIVE NTN100 Final" briefing materials (PDF)
• NTN strengthens its repair-parts business, which carries an operating margin above 10% - Nikkei xTECH
• Nippon Seiko develops actuators for humanoid robots - Motor Fan
• NSK and Atom sign strategic partnership MOU for the humanoid AI robot industry
• NSK develops new low-friction hub-unit bearings
• Analysis of global market share in the bearing industry - deallab
• NSK — Introducing Japan's main production sites
• NTN — Domestic site network (list of production sites)