[Click eStock] "Hanmi Semiconductor Expands TC Bonder Applications... Strengthening Competitiveness for New Orders"

The independent research firm Growth Research analyzed on July 2 that Hanmi Semiconductor is expanding its presence in the semiconductor back-end process equipment market, based on its TC Bonder technology.

Hanmi Semiconductor, established in 1980, is a company specializing in back-end process automation equipment. Its major products include TC Bonder, MSVP, EMI Shield, and six-sided inspection equipment. The report evaluated that as the miniaturization of semiconductors reaches its limits, the importance of packaging technology is increasing, and Hanmi Semiconductor is strengthening its equipment competitiveness across the entire back-end process ecosystem.

In particular, as the chiplet structure—which combines several functionally designed chips into a single package—becomes more widespread, demand for high-precision bonding equipment is rising in various sectors such as high-performance CPUs, mobile APs, and AI accelerators. Accordingly, the application scope of the TC Bonder is expanding from its traditional focus on high-bandwidth memory (HBM) to logic semiconductors and chiplets, and the company is also entering the market for equipment used in stacking high-capacity DRAM and next-generation NAND flash (HBF), thereby establishing a new foundation for growth.

Growth in the HBM market is also expected to continue. With equipment orders that were delayed earlier this year now resuming, and the proportion of new equipment supplies projected to increase starting with HBM4, it is anticipated that both product prices and supply volumes will rise, driving performance improvements.

Hanmi Semiconductor is also expected to benefit from delays in the adoption of next-generation hybrid bonding technology. As manufacturers opt for expanding die area rather than adopting hybrid bonding, which has a higher process complexity, the "Wide TC Bonder," which can stably implement large-area processes, is gaining attention.

The expansion of the product lineup, utilizing existing equipment competitiveness, was also cited as a growth factor. Hanmi Semiconductor is increasing customer investment efficiency by offering a "combo-type equipment" that integrates DDR stacking equipment (BOC) and NAND stacking equipment (COB) at about half the cost of previous investments. The company explained that it is strengthening its sales strategy to replace competitor equipment through this approach.

In addition, revenue from "conversion kits," which are used to modify the specifications of already supplied equipment, accounts for 34.4% of total sales. This business operates independently of customers’ new facility investment cycles and generates recurring revenue, thereby contributing to the long-term stability of the company’s performance.

However, the possibility of performance fluctuations due to changes in the semiconductor business cycle and customer facility investments was pointed out as a risk factor. The report explained that since new equipment demand and the timing of investment resumption by global semiconductor manufacturers directly impact performance, it is necessary to continuously monitor these trends.

Furthermore, since 89.92% of Hanmi Semiconductor's sales come from exports, the company emphasized the need to monitor external variables such as changes in the global trade environment and the utilization rates of OSAT (outsourced semiconductor assembly and test) companies.

Hyunghee Han, a researcher at Growth Research, stated, "Hanmi Semiconductor has secured differentiated competitiveness centered on the TC Bonder in a market environment where back-end process technologies, including packaging, are emerging as the semiconductor industry's core strength due to the limits of ultra-fine processing. Through a vertically integrated production system from equipment design to testing, the company has achieved both timely delivery capabilities and cost competitiveness."

He added, "Hanmi Semiconductor recorded sales of KRW 576.7 billion and operating profit of KRW 251.4 billion last year, and it is projected to achieve sales of KRW 785 billion, operating profit of KRW 369.4 billion, and net profit of KRW 337.3 billion in 2026. With the expansion of the application scope for TC Bonder and the growth of existing products such as MSVP, EMI Shield, and six-sided inspection equipment in line with increasing back-end process complexity, the company’s valuation is expected to be reassessed."

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