"If Electricity Is Involved, AI Is Running"… Korean Equipment Firm Reflects After Visiting the 'Tiger's Den' in Taiwan

Interview with Shim Seokgwang, CEO of LD Electronics
Targeting Automotive Displays Avoided by Industry Giants
Transforming with FPGA, the 'Hardware GPU'

"As I toured the exhibition halls at Computex 2026, I did a lot of soul-searching. Seeing the Taiwanese ecosystem, where everything that uses electricity—from power outlets to electronic business cards—incorporates artificial intelligence (AI), I realized just how far behind Korean equipment companies like ours truly are."

This was the scene at Computex 2026, Asia's largest IT exhibition, held in Taipei, Taiwan, on June 3. Amid the dazzling booths of numerous global big tech firms, the self-reflection voiced by the head of a Korean small-to-medium enterprise carried weight. The speaker was Shim Seokgwang, CEO of LD Electronics, a company specializing in display and printed circuit board (PCB) assembly performance inspection equipment.

In an interview at the site, CEO Shim, visibly both inspired and sobered after witnessing Taiwan's overwhelming AI manufacturing ecosystem, shared his insights. Shim, a former LG Display engineer who founded LD Electronics in 2014, has built a solid reputation as a core partner to major Korean display companies. However, faced with the global AI revolution, the company made its first foray into the Taiwanese market this year. Yet, in Taiwan—the epicenter of the AI revolution—the barriers encountered turned out to be far higher and more formidable than expected.

Shim Seokgwang, CEO of LD Electronics, who participated in Computex 2026, Asia's largest IT expo held in Taipei, Taiwan. LD Electronics

"Different from 'OEM Korea' dominated by conglomerates"… The gap felt inside the tiger's den

The greatest barrier CEO Shim observed on-site was not simply the technological level of individual products. It was the unique 'hardware ecosystem' of Taiwan, where small and medium-sized enterprises organically interlock and function together like gears in a machine.

Shim remarked, "Korea feels like a massive OEM base, structured around large conglomerates. Of course, there are materials, parts, and equipment suppliers in Korea, but the atmosphere is completely different from Taiwan's vast ecosystem, where small and medium-sized companies support one another." In Taiwan, mid-sized companies act as a backbone, guiding even smaller firms, and together they have built a manufacturing infrastructure and software ecosystem that enables real-time AI integration across everything from data centers to small embedded devices.

Shim continued, "Seeing how much more advanced Taiwan's ecosystem is made me realize not only that Korea is lagging, but that our own company is as well. There are plenty of companies like ours in Taiwan, but their AI adoption speed is far greater. We cannot afford to focus solely on the domestic market; we must study and catch up with the rapid AI integration and use happening overseas."

Display final performance inspector, the flagship product of LD Electronics. LD Electronics

"Even the crumbs are gone"… Adopting a 'niche strategy' in the face of harsh realities

This sense of crisis is closely linked to the structural stagnation of Korea's display industry. In the past, when conglomerates dominated and expanded in the global market, there was a 'trickle-down effect' that allowed numerous materials, parts, and equipment (MPE) firms to grow alongside. Now, however, as the market contracts, such opportunities have largely disappeared. In particular, with Korea's two leading display makers withdrawing simultaneously from the LCD market—which once served as the lifeline for the MPE sector—equipment companies have seen their revenues fall by nearly 50% compared to the market peak in 2017.

Shim noted, "Even the so-called 'dinosaur equipment companies' that were previously listed can no longer divide up the market as before, and now they're fighting among themselves. In this climate, companies like ours—'shrimp among whales'—can only survive by targeting very specific niches or by introducing entirely new, innovative technologies."

LD Electronics’ survival strategy amid these harsh realities is a thoroughly customized approach that targets the niche areas large corporations find too troublesome. A prime example is the inspection market for automotive displays and electronic components, which is highly fragmented compared to smartphones or TVs.

In automotive displays alone, there are between 150 and 200 different models produced every year. The specifications vary widely, from large screens spanning the entire dashboard to passenger-side displays, instrument panels, and in-car camera modules. For major equipment manufacturers, the high labor intensity relative to production cost makes these areas unattractive. LD Electronics, leveraging its low overhead and agile organizational structure, aims to carve out its own territory by supplying integrated inspection systems optimized for such fragmented automotive electronics lines.

Korea Pavilion set up at Hall 2 of Nangang Exhibition Center, where Computex Taiwan 2026 is held. Photo by Jin-Young Kim

Using proprietary FPGA control technology as a weapon to tackle 'complete automation' head-on

The AI shock that CEO Shim experienced in Taiwan is expected to serve as a catalyst for rapidly shifting LD Electronics’ technology roadmap from a hardware-centric approach to 'software-based AI inspection.'

To achieve ultra-fast, precise measurement of 8K resolution video data across four ports, LD Electronics has utilized FPGA (field-programmable gate array) control technology as a core component. Unlike conventional semiconductors (such as CPUs and smartphone application processors), which cannot have their internal circuits changed after production, FPGAs are shipped as blank slates, allowing developers to redesign and implement the digital circuits they require.

Shim explained, "The current trend may be graphics processing units (GPUs), but the FPGAs we use are, in a sense, hardware GPUs, as they also perform high-speed parallel computing. Since we already work with FPGAs for image generation and have the engineering expertise, we are confident that we can leverage this to rapidly advance not only in display technology but also in other AI applications."

In January of this year, LD Electronics made the decisive move to relocate its headquarters from Chilgok, North Gyeongsang Province, to Smart Town in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, as part of its push for advanced technology and global market expansion. This relocation was aimed at overcoming the limitations of a regional manufacturing base and recruiting a large pool of high-level R&D talent from the Seoul metropolitan area, setting the stage for growth as a deep-tech company. The company’s participation in Computex was also made possible through strong support from the Goyang Industry Promotion Agency and local buyer matchmaking by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) Taipei office.

Shim concluded, "The era of easy growth riding market booms is over. Moving beyond simple machine learning-level AI, we are determined to develop a differentiated, fully automated display inspection system that requires no human intervention," he declared with resolve.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.