[Featured Stock] Gaon Chips, Highlighted as Korea's Only Technology Amid Samsung's World's First 3nm Process Expectations

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] Gaonchips has continued its upward trend since its listing. This is interpreted as a result of increased expectations for the Korea-US technology alliance after US President Joe Biden visited Samsung Electronics' Pyeongtaek plant as his first schedule in Korea. A cooperative ecosystem encompassing the US's semiconductor design capabilities, materials and equipment competencies, and Samsung Electronics' semiconductor production capacity is expected to be established.

As of 9:36 AM on the 23rd, Gaonchips is trading at 29,550 KRW, up 9.04% from the previous trading day.

Gaonchips was listed on the KOSDAQ market on the 20th with a public offering price of 14,000 KRW. On the first day of listing, it opened at 24,150 KRW and closed at 27,100 KRW.

Founded in 2012, Gaonchips is a Design Solution Partner (DSP) that acts as a bridge between system semiconductor fabless companies and foundries. It provides services that optimize the design blueprints created by fabless companies to fit each foundry process.

In system semiconductors, fabless companies design the circuits, and design solution companies support the design and pre- and post-production processes. The final system semiconductor is produced through the manufacturing process by foundry companies.

Jung Gyudong, CEO of Gaonchips, explained, "If you think of the fabless as the aerial view, the DSP as the architectural design, and the foundry as the construction company that actually builds the house, it is easier to understand." When fabless companies design semiconductors, Gaonchips performs additional work in the middle to meet the requirements of Samsung Electronics' foundry production line and fabless customers. In this process, Gaonchips' customers effectively become Samsung Electronics' customers.

Gaonchips is the only company in Korea that can simultaneously provide system-on-chip (SoC) circuit design, foundry design solutions, packaging design for system-level performance optimization, and off-chip PSI simulation solutions. The proportion of engineers among Gaonchips' employees is 88%, ranking first in the industry. It has established technological capabilities to undertake ultra-fine high-end process projects of 8 to 5nm and below.

Gaonchips is a design solution partner of Samsung Foundry and ARM. Among the 12 Samsung Foundry design solution partners, it ranked first in business performance and prospects, technological capability, and design solution development, receiving the Best Design Partner Award. It also received the Best Design Partner award from ARM just one year after signing the partnership agreement, recognizing its technological prowess.

Last year, Gaonchips recorded sales of 32.2 billion KRW and operating profit of 6.2 billion KRW. Sales and operating profit increased by 88.5% and 214.2%, respectively, compared to the previous year. Sales are growing in sectors such as autonomous driving, artificial intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT). All founding members of Gaonchips, including CEO Jung, are former Samsung Electronics employees. Through this listing, Gaonchips plans to gain global market trust and stand at the forefront of customer acquisition as a partner company sharing Samsung's vision to become the global number one in system semiconductors by 2030.

US President Joe Biden visited Samsung Electronics' Pyeongtaek semiconductor plant on the 20th as his first schedule in Korea. Semiconductors have emerged as a key item in economic security. This visit emphasized the need for an alliance between Korea and the US that goes beyond a simple cooperative framework in semiconductor production. Samsung Electronics is preparing for the world's first mass production of the 3-nanometer gate-all-around (GAA) process to strengthen its system semiconductor competitiveness. It is expected to help narrow the foundry gap with TSMC's 3-nanometer process. Samsung Electronics also introduced 3-nanometer GAA wafer prototypes to the two heads of state, which aligns with this context. This suggests the possibility that the 3-nanometer process will be a fruit of the Korea-US semiconductor alliance.