Memory Market Mergers
In the global memory semiconductor market, which is being led by Korean firms such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, the recent actions of Chinese and German producers are alarming.
[[{"fid":"12868","view_mode":"body_image_right","fields":{"format":"body_image_right","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"The U.S. still has the majority of the global semiconductor market.","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"type":"media","attributes":{"alt":"The U.S. still has the majority of the global semiconductor market.","height":450,"width":450,"class":"media-element file-body-image-right"},"link_text":null}]]According to foreign media reports including the EE Times on Sept. 21, new semiconductor firm FMC, which consists of workers from German semiconductor company Qimonda that filed for bankruptcy in 2008, will soon be officially established. Currently, FMC is separating from the Technical University of Dresden and is raising funds from numerous investors, including the government.
FMC is a company that was funded after being recognized for ferroelectric semiconductor technology using hafnium oxide (HfO2). The firm is trying to produce Ferroelectric RAM (FRAM), which is called “dream memory,” by using hafnium, a chemical element with atomic number 72. FRAM has all the advantages of next-generation RAM. Many countries, including Korea, have been studying FRAM, but the research has come to a standstill, since there are many problems in terms of materials and the degree of integration. Samsung Electronics has also been studying FRAM since the 1990s.
An official from semiconductor industry sources said, “After Qimonda went bankrupt in 2008, many domestic industry watchers believed that the German semiconductor industry was over. However, Germany’s Infineon Technologies has recently ranked first in the auto semiconductor sector again, surpassing Japan’s Renesas Electronics Corporation, showing a clear sign of a rally. It is joining hands with Intel and Grand Foundry to push ahead with the next-generation memory business, based on the Dresden region, an important spot in the semiconductor industry.”
China is also aggressively seeking market advance as it unveiled a large semiconductor industry roadmap, which is led by the government, last year. The country decided to raise US$118 billion (139.4 trillion won) last year, whereas it raised US$600 million (705.9 billion won) in 2002. The figure is equivalent to capital that is able to build Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor conductor plants in Giheung and Hwaseong, the nation’s largest, and three to four more plants in terms of the local monetary value.
According to McKinsey & Company, the Chinese government has already raised US$22 billion (25.88 trillion won), or 20 percent, of a total target of US$118 billion (138.83 trillion won) in the last eight months. Also, it has already invested US$1.8 billion (2.12 trillion won), or 1 percent. The most striking part is that the government is encouraging mergers and acquisitions (M&A). McKinsey & Company said in the report that R&D investment funds have increased by more than 40 times, compared with the past projects, and the country will develop the industry by actively pushing for M&As.