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Okmetic’s headquarters and production plant where most of silicon wafers are manufactured are located in Vantaa, Finland, while it is globally close to the customers. To better respond to local customers, the company is dedicated to improve its sales and customer support organization.
During the year of 2023, Okmetic has established sales offices in both France and Taiwan to better serve the customers in these areas. This is one of commitments to take business operations to the next level.
Since then on, company’s worldwide sales and service network is able to deliver quick expert responses from Finland, Germany, France, the United States, Japan, Taiwan and China. In addition, Okmetic’s network of agents is at full service in Korea, Malaysia and Singapore.
Original – Okmetic
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STMicroelectronics announced its new organization, effective February 5th, 2024.
“We are re-organizing our Product Groups to further accelerate our time-to-market and speed of product development innovation and efficiency. This will enable us to increase value extraction from our broad and unique product and technology portfolio. In addition, we are getting even closer to our customers with an application marketing organization by end market which will boost our ability to complement our product offering with complete system solutions” said Jean-Marc Chery, President and CEO of STMicroelectronics. “This is an important step in the development of our established strategy, in line with our value proposition to all stakeholders and with the business and financial ambitions we set back in 2022”.
Moving from three to two Product Groups to further enhance product development innovation and efficiency, and time-to-market
The two new Product Groups will be:
- Analog, Power & Discrete, MEMS and Sensors (APMS), led by Marco Cassis, ST President and member of the Executive Committee; and
- Microcontrollers, Digital ICs and RF products (MDRF), led by Remi El-Ouazzane, ST President and member of the Executive Committee.
The APMS Product Group will include all ST analog products, including Smart Power solutions for automotive; all ST Power & Discrete product lines including Silicon Carbide products; MEMS and Sensors.
APMS will include two Reportable Segments: Analog products, MEMS and Sensors (AM&S); Power and discrete products (P&D).The MDRF Product Group will include all ST digital ICs and microcontrollers, including automotive microcontrollers; RF, ADAS, Infotainment ICs. MDRF will include two Reportable Segments: Microcontrollers (MCU); Digital ICs and RF Products (D&RF).
Concurrent with this new organization Marco Monti, ST President of the former Automotive and Discrete Product Group, will leave the Company.
To complement the existing Sales & Marketing organization, a new application marketing organization by end market will be implemented across all ST Regions. This will provide ST customers with end-to-end system solutions based on the Company’s product and technology portfolio.
The company is implementing an application marketing organization by end market across all ST Regions, as part of its Sales & Marketing organization led by Jerome Roux, ST President and member of the Executive Committee. The application marketing organization will cover the following four end markets:
- Automotive
- Industrial Power and Energy
- Industrial Automation, IoT and AI
- Personal Electronics, Communication Equipment and Computer Peripherals.
The current regional Sales & Marketing organization remains unchanged.
Original – STMicroelectronics
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EPC introduces three evaluation boards – EPC9179, EPC9181, and EPC9180 – featuring pulse current laser drivers of 75 A, 125 A, and 231 A , showcasing EPC’s AEC-Q101 GaN FETs. These FETs; EPC2252, EPC2204A, and EPC2218A are 30% smaller and more cost-effective than their predecessors. Designed for both long and short-range automotive lidar systems, these boards expedite solution evaluation with varied input and output options.
All boards share identical functionality, differing only in peak current and pulse width. Utilizing a resonant discharge power stage, they employ a ground-referenced GaN FET driven by LMG1020 gate driver. The GaN FET’s ultrafast switching enables rapid discharge of a charged capacitor through the load’s stray inductance, enabling peak discharge currents of tens to hundreds of amps within nanoseconds.
The printed circuit board is designed to minimize power loops and common source inductance while offering mounting flexibility for laser diodes or alternative loads. To enhance user-friendliness, all boards ship with EPC9989 interposer PCBs, featuring various footprints to accommodate a variety of laser diodes or other loads. Customers can choose one that meets their needs to evaluate the GaN solutions.
The EPC9179/81/80 boards are designed to be triggered from 3.3V logic or differential logic signals such as LVDS. For single-ended inputs, the boards can operate with input voltages down to 2.5 V or 1.8 V with a simple modification. Designing an automotive lidar system is complex, and finding a reliable solution is challenging. The purpose of these evaluation boards is to simplify the evaluation of powerful GaN-based lidar drivers that switch faster and deliver higher pulse current than other semiconductor solutions. For technical details, EPC offers full schematics, bill of materials (BOM), PCB layout files, and a quick start guide on EPC’s website.
“To meet the growing demand for automotive lidar, these cost-effective boards, featuring our latest AEC products, streamline evaluation, reducing time-to-market with exceptional switching performance,” said Alex Lidow, CEO, and co-founder of EPC.
Original – EPC
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Allegro MicroSystems, Inc. announced the launch of the second product in its High Voltage Power portfolio. Allegro’s AHV85111 isolated gate-driver IC adds critical safety features while simplifying the design of high-power energy conversion systems for e-Mobility and clean energy applications, including OBC/DCDC, solar inverter and datacenter power supply.
“Allegro continues to build upon the technology from our acquisitions in order to expand our High Voltage Power portfolio aimed at helping designers achieve their efficiency and power density needs in clean energy and e-Mobility systems,” said Vijay Mangtani, Vice President and General Manager for High Voltage Power at Allegro. “The bipolar-output of our latest device improves noise immunity and significantly simplifies high-frequency power-converter designs.”
Building upon Allegro’s existing power-thru technology, the AHV85111 was designed to meet designer demands for a simple, streamlined and safe solution. The AHV85111 gate driver adds bipolar-output, a critical feature that significantly improves time to market by eliminating the need to design a complicated negative isolated DC power supply and removing unnecessary external components.
Allegro’s newest power-thru solution also adds crucial safety features that were designed to protect against high operating temperatures in electric powertrain systems, as well as reactions to noisy environments that may be present in microinverters in solar applications, power supply in datacenter applications or on-board chargers for electric vehicles.
The AHV85111 gate driver packs all the benefits of Allegro’s power-thru technology, including 10x lower common-mode capacitance, a 50% smaller footprint, 10x noise reduction and a 50% efficiency improvement compared to competitor offerings, while also providing overtemperature protection that further improves the robustness of system.
Original – Allegro MicroSystems
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Aehr Test Systems announced financial results for its second quarter of fiscal 2024 ended November 30, 2023.
Fiscal Second Quarter Financial Results:
- Net revenue was $21.4 million, up 45% from $14.8 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2023.
- GAAP net income was $6.1 million, or $0.20 per diluted share, up 63% from GAAP net income of $3.7 million, or $0.13 per diluted share, in the second quarter of fiscal 2023.
- Non-GAAP net income, which excludes the impact of stock-based compensation, was $6.7 million, or $0.23 per diluted share, up 49% compared to non-GAAP net income of $4.5 million, or $0.16 per diluted share, in the second quarter of fiscal 2023.
- Bookings were $2.2 million for the quarter.
- Backlog as of November 30, 2023, was $3.0 million.
- Total cash and cash equivalents as of November 30, 2023 were $50.5 million, compared to $51.0 million at August 31, 2023.
Fiscal First Six Months Financial Results:
- Net revenue was $42.1 million, up 65% from $25.5 million in the first six months of fiscal 2023.
- GAAP net income was $10.8 million, or $0.36 per diluted share, up 149% compared to GAAP net income of $4.3 million, or $0.15 per diluted share, in the first six months of fiscal 2023.
- Non-GAAP net income was $11.9 million, or $0.40 per diluted share, which excludes the impact of stock-based compensation, up 105% compared to non-GAAP net income of $5.8 million, or $0.20 per diluted share, in the first six months of fiscal 2023.
- Cash provided by operations was $3.4 million for the first six months of fiscal 2024.
Gayn Erickson, President and CEO of Aehr Test Systems, commented:
“We had another solid quarter with strong year-over-year growth in revenue and net income as we continue to see increased demand for our wafer level test and burn-in products. Revenue for the quarter was $21.4 million, an increase of 45% year over year, and we generated non-GAAP net income of $6.7 million, slightly over 31% net profit. For the first half of the fiscal year, we grew revenue 65% over the same period last year.
“In the last sixty days, we have seen how the slowing of the growth rate of the electric vehicle market has had a negative impact on the timing of several current and new customer orders and capacity increases for silicon carbide devices used in them. For clarity, we do not see the silicon carbide market decreasing, only a temporary slowing of the growth rate. We are also experiencing the impact of shifts in our customers’ product mix, which specifically includes an increase in WaferPakTM full wafer contactors from our lead silicon carbide customer. The net of this is that we now expect a delay in the timing of new orders from current and new customers that will most likely impact this fiscal year’s revenue.
“Given the latest forecasts from our customers and the uncertainty on the timing of their orders, we believe it makes sense to take a more conservative approach to our fiscal year forecast and have reduced our growth estimates for fiscal 2024 revenue. We are reducing our revenue expectations of at least $100 million this fiscal year by 15% to 25% to a range of $75 million to $85 million dollars. This is still a growth rate of 15% to 30% year over year.
“Despite this uncertainty in the timing of orders, we remain confident about the future demand for our unique semiconductor test solutions and the markets they address. We have not reduced our growth expectations for the years ahead, where we continue to see tremendous opportunity. We continue to hear from our current customers as well as companies we are engaged in evaluations with that wafer level burn-in is critical to their product roadmaps to address multiple large and growing markets, including battery and hybrid electric vehicles, industrial and solar power conversion, data and telecommunications infrastructure, and the new and coming optical I/O and co-packaged optics semiconductor markets.
“Last month, we announced our first order for a FOXTM wafer level test and burn-in system to be used for gallium nitride (GaN) applications. This customer is a leading global supplier of semiconductor devices used in electric vehicles and power infrastructure and adds another major customer to the list of companies using Aehr’s FOX products for wafer level test and burn-in of wide bandgap compound semiconductors. We were able to ship this system within a few weeks to meet their needs. We are now working with two of the market leaders in gallium nitride, which positions us front and center in a market that we believe is another potential growth driver for our wafer level solutions.
“We continue to make great progress with our previously announced benchmarks and engagements with prospective new customers, including the significant automotive qualification of wafer level burn-in we have been doing with one of the market leaders in silicon carbide (SiC). We believe we have a large opportunity with this potential new customer and feel confident they will move forward with our FOX-XP multi-wafer solution for their high-volume needs, but the timing is taking longer than anticipated. We remain confident that we will receive initial purchase orders from them in fiscal 2024; however, it is not clear whether they will have the infrastructure ready to take shipments from us within our fiscal year that ends on May 31st.
“We have made significant progress in expanding our customer base for SiC and GaN wafer level burn-in for a wide variety of applications. We currently have a total of seven customers purchasing our solutions for SiC and GaN devices and are also actively engaged with more than two dozen SiC and GaN companies to address their needs for wafer level test and burn-in of these devices. Importantly, 10 of these additional companies have already engaged with Aehr for on-wafer benchmarks. We have never lost a full wafer level burn-in evaluation since introducing our FOX-NP and XP configured with the SiC and GaN nitride test resources, and we believe we will have over 12 SiC/GaN customers buying our wafer level test and burn-in solutions by the end of calendar 2024.
“In anticipation of both our current and new customers’ forecasted needs, Aehr has put in place the inventory, infrastructure, and processes to increase our manufacturing and installation capacity as well as significantly lower our lead times to meet our customers’ future capacity needs.
“While we have seen delays in orders from our automotive customers, we are seeing a pick-up in opportunities for SiC wafer level burn-in for applications outside of the electric vehicle market, including industrial, solar, and commuter electric trains as the efficiency and value of SiC is being recognized for these additional markets. While the largest market opportunity for SiC is still electric vehicles and charging infrastructure, industrial and other power conversion market segments represent significant additional opportunities for SiC and for Aehr’s products. William Blair forecasts that the total silicon carbide market is growing at a CAGR of greater than 40% to $8.5 billion in 2025, and over 25% of that will be in industrial and energy power conversion applications.
“We are also excited about the potential for the new silicon photonic optical I/O or co-packaged optics market and are expecting to ship our first FOX production system in our third fiscal quarter. This FOX-XP system with new high-power WaferPaks is configured to enable cost-effective production test of up to 3,500 watts of power per wafer and up to nine full wafers in parallel. It also enables our customers to easily dock to our new FOX WaferPak Auto Aligner for hands free operation of 6” to 12” wafers using industry standard wafer cassettes and FOUPs including robotic and overhead transport of wafers in FOUPs. This new FOX-XP configuration allows for the testing of as many as 8,000 high-power optical devices in parallel on each of nine wafers before they are singulated and placed into a photonic application such as fiberoptic transceiver modules or for placement in co-packaged optics for optical chip-to-chip communication, as has been announced on product roadmaps by companies including Nvidia, Intel, AMD, TSMC, and GlobalFoundries.
“As we look ahead, we expect continued strong demand for our wafer level burn-in solutions for the markets we currently address, as well as increased demand from the new market opportunities we are seeing. Even with our more conservative guidance, we expect solid year-over-year revenue growth and believe we are poised for continued strong growth for years to come.”
Original – Aehr Test Systems
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BYD honored United Nova Technology (formerly known as Semiconductor Manufacturing Electronics (ShaoXing) Corporation) with “Special Contribution Award” on BYD NEV (New Energy Vehicle) Core Supplier Convention 2023 for being a highly reliable partner in terms of quality and delivery capability.
Since 2021, UNT has engaged in broad cooperation with BYD in multi domains, including power devices such as SiC MOSFET, IGBT, and silicon-based MOSFET, as well as power modules and analog IC for automotive industry.
With the deepening of cooperation, UNT’s products have entered BYD’s ocean series and dynasty series on a large scale. In 2023, the SiC MOSFET manufactured by UNT have been widely installed in BYD’s electric vehicles. Being awarded the “Special Contribution Award” is a full recognition of the continuous contribution and outstanding performance of UNT.
In the future, UNT will continue to deepen its close cooperation with global customers such as BYD, promote technology innovations, and provide customers with more efficient and low-energy consumption solutions to support the vigorous development of the green energy.
Original – United Nova Technology
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onsemi announced the availability of nine new EliteSiC Power Integrated Modules (PIMs) enabling bidirectional charging capabilities for DC ultra-fast electric vehicle (EV) chargers and energy storage systems (ESS). The silicon carbide-based solutions will dramatically improve system cost with higher efficiency and simpler cooling mechanisms that can reduce size by up to 40% and weight by up to 52% compared to traditional silicon-based IGBT solutions.
With more compact, lighter charging platforms, designers will have all the key building blocks that are needed to quickly deploy a reliable, efficient and scalable network of DC fast chargers that can charge electric vehicle batteries up to 80% in as little as 15 minutes.
According to J.D. Power’s 2023 Electric Vehicle Consideration Study, nearly half of U.S. consumers note the reason for not purchasing an electric vehicle is the access to charging and the ability to do so quickly, to ensure the driving experience is as easy and seamless as with a traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle. In the U.S., the availability of EV chargers needs to quadruple by 2025 and 8x by the end of the decade to keep up with demand and ensure drivers have equitable access to public charging stations.
In turn, this rapid increase in demand for electricity will also put a tremendous strain on current electrical grids, potentially overloading them. To mitigate this problem, bidirectional charging has emerged as a key solution to implement vehicle-to-grid which allows both regular battery charging and the ability to use an EV as an energy storage system to power your home when needed.
This solution helps enable a DC fast charging network and vehicle-to-grid power transfer systems, addressing access and speed with its ability to recharge a vehicle faster than other methods that take hours or even days.
onsemi offers the most comprehensive portfolio of PIMs to address the key topologies on the market. This gives designers the flexibility to pick the right PIM for power conversion stages in their DC fast charging or energy storage system applications. To accelerate the design cycle, advanced piecewise linear electrical circuit simulation (PLECS) models through our Self-Service PLECS model Generator and application simulation with the Elite Power Simulator of this portfolio will also be made available to designers.
For each module, onsemi uses die from the same wafer to ensure more consistency and reliability so designers don’t have to use discretes from different suppliers, which can lead to varying performance results. In addition to its reliability, this module portfolio offers the following benefits:
- Uses the Gen3 M3S SiC MOSFET technology which offers the lowest switching losses and highest efficiency in the industry
- Supports key topologies such as multi-level T-type neutral point clamp (TNPC), half-bridge and full-bridge topologies
- Supports scalable output power from 25 kW to 100 kW, enabling multiple DC fast charging and energy storage systems platforms including bidirectional charging
- Industry-standard F1 and F2 packages with the option of pre-applied Thermal Interface Material (TIM) and press fit pins
- Enables optimal thermal management, avoiding system failure due to overheating
- Full SiC modules offer energy conservation by minimizing power losses, directly translating to cost and energy savings
- Offers more robustness and dependability, ensuring consistent operations
Original – onsemi
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The Biden-Harris Administration announced that the U.S. Department of Commerce and Microchip Technology Inc. have reached a non-binding preliminary memorandum of terms (PMT) to provide approximately $162 million in federal incentives under the CHIPS and Science Act to support the onshoring of the company’s semiconductor supply chain. This investment would enable Microchip to significantly increase its U.S. production of microcontroller units (MCUs) and other specialty semiconductors built on mature-nodes critical to America’s automotive, commercial, industrial, defense, and aerospace industries and create over 700 direct construction and manufacturing jobs.
President Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act – part of his Investing in America agenda – into law in August 2022, with the goal of strengthening U.S. supply chains, creating good-paying jobs, protecting national security, and advancing U.S. competitiveness. Today’s announcement is the second PMT announcement the Department of Commerce has made under the CHIPS and Science Act.
Microchip’s microcontroller units and mature-node semiconductors are critical components in the production and manufacturing of electric vehicles and other automotives, washing machines, cell phones, airplanes, and the defense-industrial base. Shortages of microcontrollers during the pandemic affected over 1% of global GDP. By investing in Microchip, the Biden-Harris Administration would help advance U.S. economic and national security by further securing a reliable, domestic supply of these chips.
The approximately $162 million in proposed CHIPS funding would be split across two projects: approximately $90 million to modernize and expand a fabrication facility in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and approximately $72 million to expand a fabrication facility in Gresham, Oregon. The projects are estimated to nearly triple the output of semiconductors the company produces at these sites, decreasing its reliance on foreign foundries and strengthening supply chain resilience, and creating good-paying jobs in construction and manufacturing.
“One of the objectives of the CHIPS and Science Act is to address the semiconductor supply chain shortages we saw during the pandemic that put our national security at risk and led to furloughed auto workers and higher prices for consumers. Today’s announcement with Microchip is a meaningful step in our efforts to bolster the supply chain for legacy semiconductors that are in everything from cars, to washing machines, to missiles,” said Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “With this proposed investment, President Biden is delivering on his promise to rebuild America’s semiconductor supply chain, creating a more secure defense industrial base, lower prices for Americans, and over 700 jobs across Colorado and Oregon.”
“This manufacturing investment in Oregon and Colorado will advance the President’s goal of making semiconductors in America again and reducing reliance on global supply chains that led to price spikes and long wait lines for everything from autos to washing machines during the pandemic,” said White House National Economic Advisor Lael Brainard.
“This proposed investment and others like it will help ensure that U.S. companies have a stable supply of the critical chip components they need to keep their factories running,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Laurie E. Locascio. “This is an example of how government and industry can work together to strengthen our economy, improve our national security, and increase the supply of high-quality jobs for American workers.”
“Microchip Technology manufactures semiconductors that are the backbone of electronic applications across vital industries like aerospace and defense, automotive, and medical. Microchip’s fabs in Colorado and Oregon, among others, perform specialized manufacturing as well as additional reliability and safety qualification for products designed for such mission-critical markets,” said Ganesh Moorthy, President and CEO of Microchip. “The funding Microchip is proposed to receive from the CHIPS and Science Act would be a direct investment to strengthen our national and economic security. As a US-based company, Microchip’s operations will continue to bolster the national semiconductor supply chain, as well as develop and expand our workforce.”
As explained in the Department’s first Notice of Funding Opportunity, the Department may offer applicants a PMT on a non-binding basis after satisfactory completion of the merit review of a full application. The PMT outlines key terms for a CHIPS incentives award, including the amount and form of the award.
After the PMT is signed, the Department begins a comprehensive due diligence process on the proposed project and other information contained in the application. After satisfactory completion of the due diligence phase, the Department may enter into final award documents with the applicant. Terms of the final award documents are subject to negotiations with the applicant and may differ from the terms of the PMT.
Original – U.S. Department of Commerce
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In response to the critical shortage of skilled engineers in semiconductor Integrated Circuit (IC) design and layout, Professor Patrick Reynaert of KU Leuven, in collaboration with several leading semiconductor companies in Flanders, Belgium, including members of Flanders Semiconductors, has launched a great initiative.
Flanders is home to a multitude of commercial enterprises at the forefront of cutting-edge technology, playing essential roles in various electronic applications across industries such as automotive, medical, industrial, consumer, data center, optical, and space. Despite their ambitious growth plans, the semiconductor industry in Flanders faces a significant hurdle – a shortage of qualified engineers in IC design and layout.
To address this challenge head-on, Professor Reynaert’s recent initiative introduces three comprehensive courses designed to coach individuals into proficient ‘chip designers.’ This program equips students with specialized skills essential for semiconductor industry roles, focusing on practical insights and real-world perspectives.
Importantly, the courses are not just theoretically driven; they are developed and taught by experienced experts from Flanders’ leading semiconductor companies, including BelGan, Caeleste, easics, ICsense, imec, Melexis, Omnivision, and Sofics – all of whom are members of Flanders Semiconductors. This collaboration ensures that students gain industry-specific knowledge directly from those shaping the semiconductor landscape.
Members of Flanders Semiconductors support this initiative, donating time and resources to make these courses accessible. We encourage prospective students to enroll and embark on a journey towards becoming the future leaders of semiconductor design. For more information about the courses and enrollment details, please visit KU Leuven’s website.
Key points of this collaboration include:
- The chip lab at KU Leuven and various companies whom are member of Flanders Semiconductors collaborating to offer new training programs for chip developers.
- A significant shortage of chip developer profiles, especially due to European plans to reduce dependence on Asian and American chip companies.
- Three courses are planned, with the first starting in January, 2024.
Original – Flanders Semiconductors
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Key Foundry announced that it has changed its corporate name to SK keyfoundry. The new name was recently approved by the shareholder, which went into effect starting January 1, 2024. SK keyfoundry completed the submission of applications to register a trademark at the end of last year in Korea and certain foreign countries.
SK keyfoundry, an 8-inch foundry which had been spun off from Magnachip Semiconductor in September 2020, became a subsidiary of SK hynix in August 2022. Post the acquisition by SK hynix, the company has pushed ahead with a name change together with the post-merger integration (PMI) and finally decided SK keyfoundry as its new name considering the business continuity with the existing customers. SK keyfoundry expects to gain a momentum in expanding its business by taking this name change as an opportunity to improve its reputation both domestically and internationally.
Headquartered in Cheongju, SK keyfoundry has a fab with the capacity of producing approximately 100,000 wafers per month, conducting a foundry business to mostly produce mixed-signal & analog chips, including Display Driver IC (DDI), Micro Controller Unit (MCU) and 8-inch wafer-based power IC, which is suitable for small quantity production of diverse products.
In particular, recently, there is a growing demand for 100V or higher BCD (Bipolar-CMOS-DMOS) in the power IC market to achieve high speed electric power delivery and high power efficiency. As a leading foundry in HV BCD process, SK keyfoundry has been actively striving to position itself in the global market of power ICs for automotive and industrial. In addition, for the continuity of supplying power ICs, SK keyfoundry has also started developing the process development of Gallium Nitride (GaN), which is considered to be the next-generation power semiconductor device and is also actively reviewing the development of Silicon Carbide (SiC).
In the meantime, SK keyfoundry has designated 2024 as a year to begin the “deep change” to accomplish innovative growth and change and in connection with it, it recently carried out the reorganization of internal organizational structure. The ultimate goals are to secure new customers by improving our sales networks in the U.S and China and to accomplish high customer satisfaction by providing differentiated foundry process development and improving the quality of our products.
“Name change will instill a sense of belonging as a member of SK Group and serve as a driving force to evolve our company into a strong and agile one,” said Derek D. Lee, CEO of SK keyfoundry. “SK keyfoundry will work hard to gain more ground in the 8-inch foundry market by actively engaging in the market of power ICs for automotive.”
Original – SK keyfoundry
