South Korea’s second largest semiconductor foundry splits chip design department to resolve conflicts of interest with customers

According to news from IT House on May 26, according to South Korea’s Ddaily news agency, South Korea’s second largest semiconductor foundry service providerEastern Hi-TechRecently, the IC division responsible for semiconductor chip design was split, and it will operate as an independent legal entity DB GlobalChip.

Dongfang High-Tech pointed out that the important reason for this split is to solve the conflict of interests between its products and customers, and to win more customers for the foundry business. Analysts at SK Securities believe that this is a major step forward in Dongfang Hi-Tech’s business strategy. Previously, Dongbu Hi-Tech’s IC design department was criticized because its main products overlapped with some foundry customers’ product lines.

Dongfang Hi-Tech said that the initial products of DB GlobalChip will be mainly high-value-added DDI driver chips for OLED and Mini LED TVs, and at the same time develop power semiconductors for displays, hoping to provide comprehensive solutions related to display products.

In 2022, the overall revenue of Eastern Hi-Tech will be 1.68 trillion won (currently about 8.954 billion yuan),Among them, IC design business revenue accounted for 17%, the main customer is Samsung Display. IT House learned in the financial meeting documents that Dongfang Hi-Tech has set a 2.2-fold increase in IC design revenue in 2027, and expects Dongbu Hi-Tech’s revenue to reach 4 trillion won (currently about 21.32 billion yuan), DB GlobalChip Reached 2 trillion won (currently about 10.66 billion yuan).