In international electronic business news, South Korea's SK Group has acquired Vietnamese semiconductor company ISCVina Manufacturing Co., which operates in the Ba Thien 2 industrial park in Vinh Phu province in northern Vietnam, for $300 million, according to a statement on the province's government website. A few days ago, SK Hynix was reported to have cut its CIS business.
SK Hynix acquires Vietnam Semiconductor Company
The acquisition comes against the backdrop of the Vietnamese government's policy of strengthening support for the semiconductor industry. The acquired company ISCVina is a local semiconductor company in Vietnam. Compared with international semiconductor manufacturers, ISCVina's market share is relatively small, but the company has flexible production capacity and can provide localized services for the Southeast Asian market.
In recent years, the Vietnamese government has been vigorously supporting the semiconductor industry. On the 21st of last month, Prime Minister Pham Minh signed Decision No. 1018/QD-TTg and issued the strategy and vision for the development of Vietnam's semiconductor industry, proposing five specific tasks and measures - the development of special chips; Promote the development of electronics industry; Develop human resources and attract talents in semiconductor field; Attracting investment in the semiconductor sector; Other tasks and measures.
According to the country's support policy for semiconductors, Vietnam will build three manufacturing plants and 20 sealed test plants by 2050. The goal is divided into three phases, the first phase of the target includes the selective attraction of foreign direct investment (FDI), the establishment of at least 100 design companies, a small semiconductor chip manufacturing plant and 10 semiconductor product packaging and testing plants.
Over the past few years, Vietnam has attracted investment from a number of foreign semiconductor companies, including Samsung Electronics, Intel, ASE, Acon, Texas Instruments, NXP, ON, Qualcomm, Renesas Electronics, Marvell, Infineon, and Sunsys Technologies. SK Hynix's acquisition of ISCVina is another example of strengthening foreign investment in Vietnam.
SK Hynix recently reduced its CIS business
It is worth noting that SK Hynix was reported a few days ago that it is cutting the image sensor and foundry business, focusing on the more profitable HBM and AI memory. SK Hynix has two major product lines, one for memory semiconductors (DRAM, NAND Flash, etc.) and the other for system semiconductors, including CIS.
In recent years, SK Hynix's CIS business has been affected by shrinking customer orders in the consumer market. According to the Yole report, the overall sales volume of the CIS industry starting in 2022 decreased slightly compared to 2021. At the same time, the average selling price and market share of automotive CIS increased significantly. The shift of these CIS market growth points makes the industry competitiveness reshuffle.
In 2023, the three giants of SONY, Samsung and Haowei occupied three-quarters of the market share of the CIS market, while SK Hynix ranked sixth in the CIS market, with a market share of only 4%. In this context, SK Hynix reduced its R&D investment in the CIS business in 2024, and its monthly capacity was also less than 7,000 12-inch wafers, compared to more than double the monthly capacity of CIS in the same period last year.
Brief summary
SK Hynix's new merger and acquisition and reduction of existing businesses are the company's strategic adjustments according to the global market conditions, and also reflect that international semiconductor companies are responding to industry challenges through strategic adjustment and regional expansion, seeking new growth points and competitive advantages.
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