Fabless chip firm LX Semicon is entering the intelligent power module (IPM) market, TheElec has learned.The company has succeeded in developing a 600volt (V) IPM for use in home appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines, and air conditioners and was in talks with LG Electronics for a supply

Hyundai Motor is planning to use press notching instead of laser in its latest joint battery factory with LG Energy Solution in the US, TheElec has learned.The factory, operated by the pair’s joint venture HL-GA, will use notching, much like HLI Green Power, Hyundai Motor’s joint venture with LG Ene

Micron said its high-bandwidth memory (HBM) production capacity has been sold out up to 2025.Previously, SK Hynix also said it sold out its HBM production capacity up to next year.Micron said it recorded US$6.811 billion in revenue in its latest fiscal quarter running from March to May, an increase

Avatec said on Monday that it plans to manufacture ultra-thin glass (UTG) for foldable notebook panels.UTG are used as cover windows for foldable panels. The foldable OLED panel LG Display and Samsung Display are developing for Apple is also expected to use UTG.Avatec said the UTG will require thin-

Hanmi Semiconductor has effectively lost in a patent lawsuit it filed against rival Genesem over patents related to packaging equipment.In fact, it lost more than it bargained for as the court nullified its patents.Hanmi Semiconductor filed the suit against Genesem to the Seoul Central District Cour

Back-end equipment maker ASMPT has supplied a demo thermal compression (TC) bonder for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) production to Micron, TheElec has learned.The equipment maker is collaborating with the US memory giant in co-developing a TC bonder for use in HBM4 production.ASMPT has also supplied T

Elentec said it will be collaborating with US battery firm Enovix on battery pack research.Elentec will turn battery cells made by Enovic to battery packs under the partnership.The US firm specializes in high-performance batteries that use silicon cathode, the South Korean battery pack firm said.Eno

BH will be supplying the flexible printed circuit boards (FPCB) for the camera modules on Samsung’s new foldable phones, TheElec has learned.The board maker becomes the third supplier of the boards to Samsung after NewFlex and SI Flex.BH has so far focused on FPCB for displays but the new deal means

South Korea’s export of blank masks used in chip production has jumped 46% in May from a year ago, according to government data.Exports hit US$2.56 million in May, with China accounting for US$1.93 million and accounting for 75.3% of the total, according to data from the Korea Trade Statistics Promo

Battery inspection equipment maker Nsys said on Monday that it will acquire cylindrical battery production equipment maker Lakyung Engineering.Nsys has already secured a 67% stake in the latter and plans to increase this to 80%.Lakyung Engineering specializes in production equipment for 4680 cylindr

Samsung’s fab equipment-making subsidiary Semes has succeeded in developing an argon fluoride immersion (ArF-i) lithography track equipment.The first unit of the equipment, called Omega Prime, was supplied last year and Semes was making a second unit, the company said on Monday.South Korean chipmake

EcoPro BM was developing a sodium-ion cathode for batteries and was in talks with car makers for potential supply deals.Dongwook Lee, director of the Future Materials Division at EcoPro BM, told TheElec during Interbattery Europe 2024 being held in Munich that the company was developing various batt

This week, multiple acquaintances messaged me to ask whether a certain report was true.The report, made in South Korean media, claimed that Nvidia asked Samsung to change the design of their high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and that this would cause further delays in supply. Coincidentally, Samsung’s sha

DB Hitek is expected to manufacture a chip that will go into Tesla cars, TheElec has learned.The automotive chip is being designed by a US fabless chip company, which will conduct audits of DB Hitek in June and October.The June audit will be conducted by the fabless alone, while in October Tesla wil

South Korean memory chipmakers Samsung and SK Hynix are expected to spply hybrid bonding in their upcoming 3D DRAM.SK Hynix said during the International Memory Workshop 2024 conference held in Seoul last week that it will apply wafer bonding in its 3D DRAM production.Wafer bonding is also called hy

Samsung is expected to manufacture slightly more smartphones and tablets than it aimed during the second quarter, thanks to the recovery of the global smartphone market.The South Korean tech giant is projected to produce 49.9 million units during the second quarter, 3% more than its forecast made in

Ultra-thin glass (UTG) maker Dowoo Insys is planning to list on the Korean Exchange next year.Company CEO Lee Jae-gyu, told TheElec on Friday that Dowoo Insys will file for the preliminary review to go public to financial authorities in the summer.Kiwoom Securities is underwriting the deal. The secu

Samsung Foundry is expected to launch 1.4-nanometer (nm) process, back side power delivery network (BSPDN), and silicon photonics in 2027.During its Samsung Foundry Forum held in San Jose on Wednesday, the South Korean tech giant’s contract chip production business unit announced its technology road

South Korean AI chip companies Sapeon and Rebellions seeking a merger to become more competitive as competition heats up among AI chip companies amid the boom.The pair said on Wednesday that the merged entity will be inaugurated within the year after they sign the merger deal within the third quarte

Samsung Display was looking for a new contractor to handle the back-end etching work for its rigid and hybrid OLED panels, TheElec has learned.This was because one of its contractors for this work, Soulbrain, is planning to exit the business, sources said.Samsung Display currently manufactures rigid