Chip production equipment maker Nextin is aiming to double its share in the global market for dark field inspection equipment.Nextin CEO Park Tae-hoon told TheElec on Wednesday that it was aiming to increase its share to 10% this year from last year’s 5%.This is despite the current downturn of the g

Chip and display panel component maker TSI was close to commercializing probe cards for DRAM chips, TheElec has learned.It was conducting quality tests with two main customers for the cards that will be finished within the first quarter, sources said.It had already completed a quality test with anot

The adoption of DDR5 used in server DRAM is expected to be slower than thought this year, according to analyst firm Omdia.Omdia said it expected DDR5 to account for 28% of the server DRAM market but has now adjusted this to 13%.The analyst firm said this was because the recovery of the server DRAM m

Dry vacuum pump firm Lot Vacuum is conducting quality tests for its equipment with two global chip companies, TheElec has learned.One is an overseas foundry company and another is a memory chipmaker.These quality tests started last year and Lot Vacuum is expected to win the companies and customers t

Inspection equipment maker TSI Korea has supplied its dual DDI bump pattern inspection equipment to LB Lusem.TSI Korea CEO Lee Chul-hee told TheElec that this means it has supplied its equipment to the top two South Korean DDI chip on film makers, the other being STECO, which it began supplying in 2

Dry vacuum pump company Lot Vacuum is aiming for an annual revenue of 250 billion won this year from its solar panel business.Company vice chairman Kim Ho-sik told TheElec that it is expecting double the sales from 2022 from the business, which is showing high growth.Kim, an expert in production equ

Samsung won’t spend fewer wafers or halt production lines in its chip production despite the recent downturn of the global memory chip market, the company said on Tuesday.The company’s chip business reported an operating income of 270 billion won for the fourth quarter of 2022, its lowest in ten yea

The market for chillers used in semiconductor production is expected to change racially in the next two to three years.This is because the world’s largest coolant producer 3M has announced that it will end production by 2025 from environmental regulations.Chillers are used to absorb heat inside cham

Silicon carbide (SiC) firm Arche said on Monday that it plans to start mass production of SiC epiwafers this year.SiC epiwafer, or epitaxial wafer, is used in the production of power management ICs.Arche was founded in 2014 with the aim to supply the wafer to chipmakers and last year secured 10 bill

Samsung’s chip business barely avoided posting a profit loss in the fourth quarter of 2022 as the memory chip market reeled from price drops caused by weak demand.The South Korean tech giant said it recorded 70.46 trillion won in revenue and 4.31 trillion won in operating income during the quarter.

South Korean chip foundries are continuing to record lower operation rates in their production facilities, a trend that is expected to continue up to at least the second quarter.South Korea is home to foundries, or contract chip makers, such as Samsung, DB Hitek, Key Foundry, Magnachip, and SK Hynix

SK Hynix has reshuffled its CMOS image sensor (CIS) team in a bid to shift focus from expanding market share to developing high-end products, TheElec has learned.Its CIS team was a singular organization prior to the changes, but the company has now created sub-teams that focus on specific functions

SK Hynix said on Wednesday that it has launched a new mobile LPDDR5 DRAM with a speed of 9.6Gbps.Called LPDDR5T, or LPDDR5 Turbo, it is 13% faster than its predecessor LPDDR5X launched two months ago. LPDDR5X had a speed of 8.5Gbps.The South Korean chip giant said it aims to continue serving custome

Helium gas used in chip production is increasing in South Korea. This is expected to pressure local chipmakers that are already hard hit by global inflation.Helium gas prices have already been increasing since the pandemic __ it increased by over 40% from 2020 to 2022.A further price increase of 30%

SK Hynix has created a new high-level position for its maintenance department.The chipmaker said on Monday that the area will now have a position called Master, the highest career level for those in the field.Masters, the top position for equipment maintenance in wafer fabrication, will aim to leave

Sony’s dominance in the global CMOS image sensor market seems unchangeable.According to analyst firm Omdia, the Japanese tech giant had a market share of 51.6% during the third quarter last year, triple that of second-place Samsung’s 15.6%.The global CMOS image sensor market was worth US$4.733 billi

Samsung Foundry, the contract chip-producing business unit of Samsung, has built a system that allows its key partners to have sales and maintenance rights of the chip giant’s IPs.The company has previously done this on its own but it seems it is now making a middleman distribution system for its IP

South Korean chipmakers Samsung and SK Hynix are planning to procure fewer silicon wafers used in chip production than they initially planned going forward, TheElec has learned.The chipmakers discussed the issue with their respective wafer suppliers sometime during the fourth quarter, sources said.S

Samsung has recently begun procuring ammonium hydroxide, more commonly known as ammonium water, from ENF, TheElec has learned.SK Hynix was also considering procuring the water from a global supplier, likely Germany’s BASF, sources said.These moves by the South Korean chipmakers threatens the positio

Samsung is planning to build pilot lines by the end of the year for its planned new fabs in South Korea and the US, TheElec has learned.The pilot lines will be built at P4 in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, and another one in Taylor, Texas. Samsung recently shared these plans with its suppliers for the fab