published Thursday that “advanced packaging is becoming the key to improving semiconductor performance” and expects strong demand for HBM to bolster Hanmi Semiconductor’s revenue. The company’s shares jumped 30% that day.
HBM is a next-generation type of DRAM, a memory chip that enables devices to multitask, and is targeted for use in AI systems. Hanmi Semiconductor said in its first-quarterthat one of its products, the TSV TC Bonder, is “a key equipment for HBM chip production to implement ChatGPT, which has recently become a hot topic in the semiconductor industry, and is expected to benefit from the increased demand for HBM.
The potential rise in demand for TSV TC Bonder is a welcome boost for Hanmi Semiconductor, which, like some other semiconductor companies, was hard hit by the tech slump caused by inflation and macroeconomic uncertainties. For the first quarter this year, Hanmi Semiconductor reported that revenue dropped 58% year-over-year to 26.5 billion won , while operating profit plunged 90% to 2 billion won.
The decline is broadly in line with the performance of Hanmi Semiconductor’s customers as consumers and corporations cut back on new smartphones, electronics gadgets and data servers. Samsung Electronics’ revenue fell 18% and operating profit plunged 95%, and SK Hynix’s revenue dropped 58% and made an operating loss of 3.4 trillion won, down from a profit of 2.9 trillion won in the first quarter last year.
Hanmi Semiconductor was founded in 1980 by Kwak’s father, No-kwon, a former Motorola engineer, and listed on the Korea Stock Exchange in 2005. No-kwon, who turns 85 in November, serves as chairman of Hanmi Semiconductor. In