LSE was in the middle of installing scrubbers for through silicon via (TSV) for high bandwidth memory for SK Hynix, TheElec has learned.
The fab equipment maker has provided two units to the chipmaker’s fab at Cheongju, called Cheongju Campus.
Electronics parts maker LTC acquired Mujin Electronics’s fab equipment business for 46.1 billion won in 2022 and renamed it LSE. LTC has a stake of 87.8% in the company.
Besides the two units being installed, SK Hynix has ordered two more additional units, sources said.
SK Hynix in January during its conference call for the fourth quarter that it plans to double its TSV production capacity compared to 2023, which means LSE is expected to win more orders.
While SK Hynix had trouble with Mujin Electronics in 2021 due to alleged technology leaks by executives and employees of the latter, since the change to LSE the pair’s relationship has recovered considerably as well, the sources said.
LSE also has around 100 billion won of orders from SK Hynix on hold due to the downturn of the chip market, and these are also expected to resume this year.
Last year, from January to September, LSE recorded 34.3 billion won in revenue with a net operating loss of 10.6 billion won, a substantial drop in performance as it recorded 113.8 billion won in revenue and 1.9 billion won in net profit in 2022. The drop was attributed to SK Hynix’s lowered spending in response to the downturn of the chip market.
