The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on March 16 that it would help at least 10 fabless companies reach one trillion won in sales each by 2035 and help Samsung Electronics produce their AI and automotive chips so that South Korea’s competitiveness can be enhanced in the non-memory ch
The Strategy and Finance Committee of the National Assembly passed a special bill for the semiconductor industry at its subcommittee meeting on March 16.Companies in the industry welcomed the news. The next step is the plenary session scheduled for this month and they are looking forward to another
In an interview with the Nihon Keizai Shimbun on Jan. 25, Atsuyoshi Koike, president of Rapidus Corp., said his company would build a 2nm semiconductor prototype line by the first half of 2025.Rapidus is a new company established by eight companies, including Sony, Toyota, Kioxia, NTT, Softbank, NEC
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on Jan. 12 that exports from the information and communications technology sector increased 2.5 percent to US$233.32 billion last year, the largest since records began in 1996. Last year, the sector's imports totaled US$152.47 billion.In 2022,
South Korea’s trade deficit amounted to an all-time high of US$47.2 billion last year, when it recorded an annual trade deficit for the first time since 2008. Last year, South Korea’s exports set a new record. However, soaring energy prices more than offset the performance.The Ministry of Trade, Ind
TSMC’s 3-nm process initiation ceremony is scheduled for Dec. 29 in Taiwan. The world’s largest foundry recently announced that it would build a 2-nm plant in Hsinchu, and it would be put into operation in 2025. The ceremony and the announcement are to confirm that it will not reduce its business in
The author is an analyst of Shinhan Securities. He can be reached at chank@shinhan.com. -- Ed. 4Q22 sales forecast at KRW43.8bn (+25.4% YoY)We expect ISC to post robust earnings at sales of KRW43.8bn (+25.4% YoY) and operating profit of KRW13.9bn (+65% YoY) for 4Q22 despite seasonal weakness. While
The Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade (KIET) said in its report on Nov. 3 that the competitiveness score of the South Korean semiconductor industry is 71 on a scale of 1 to 100 and those of the United States, Taiwan, Japan, China and the European Union are 96, 79, 78, 74 and 66, res
Samsung Electronics is planning to increase non-memory chip production outsourcing. Taiwanese foundry UMC is likely to supply more image sensors and display driver ICs to Samsung Electronics, while its foundry arm continues to produce more advanced products such as smartphone application processors.
The South Korean government announced on Oct. 18 that it has increased the number of national key strategic technologies and techniques in the material, component and equipment industries from 100 to 150.In 2019, the Japanese government implemented export restrictions against South Korea in the semi
The Federation of Korean Industries held a seminar on Sept. 28 to discuss the United States’ supply chain internalization measures and South Korea’s response.The keynote address was delivered by independent lawmaker Yang Hyang-ja, head of the Semiconductor Industry Special Committee of the National
The focus of the global semiconductor industry is shifting from the memory chip segment towards non-memory, which is becoming increasingly important as Industry 4.0 develops. Experts point out that South Korea is still too dependent on the memory chip segment.According to market research firm IC Ins
Market research company IC Insights predicted that the global image sensor market will suffer negative growth this year.The image sensor market has enjoyed double-digit growth for years as its use in smartphones and automobiles has increased. But it is expected to record a negative growth rate for t
Samsung Electronics surpassed Intel in semiconductor sales in the second quarter of 2022, retaining the top spot in the global semiconductor market for the fourth quarter in a row. However, as the memory semiconductor market is shrinking, the Korean semiconductor giant may lose its leading position
South Korean semiconductor companies’ concerns are growing after the passage of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022. The act is to provide US$39 billion and a 25 percent tax credit for companies building semiconductor facilities in the United States, and provide US$11 billion for those doing semicondu
The U.S. Department of Commerce is working on export restrictions related to advanced semiconductor and turbine production. The semiconductor part of the restrictions, the main target of which is China, includes electronic design automation software for use in 3-nm chip and more advanced manufacturi
The authors are analysts of Shinhan Investment Corp. They can be reached at snowKH@shinhan.com and wonyong.sim@shinhan.com, respectively. -- Ed. 2Q22 operating profit comes in at KRW35.9bn (+47% YoY)Wonik QnC reported operating profit of KRW35.9bn (+47% YoY) on sales of KRW192.2bn (+20% YoY) for 2Q2
The author is a market analyst of Shinhan Investment Corp. He can be reached at junechoi1@shinhan.com. – Ed. Investment insights found from IPOsThe Korean IPO market has suffered a slowdown along with the broader market, with the monthly average number of IPOs down from 7.4 during the stock market r
SK Hynix announced on Aug. 2 that it has completed the process of acquiring Key Foundry, an 8-inch foundry company in Korea.SK Hynix signed a contract in October last year to purchase a 100 percent stake in Key Foundry from Magnus Semiconductor for 575.8 billion won and has been proceeding with the
The South Korean government is supposed to decide whether to join the ‘Chip 4 alliance’ by the end of this month. The idea proposed by the United States is to build a stable supply chain in the semiconductor industry by utilizing the United States’ chip design capabilities and core technologies, Sou