100% Imported Chip Resistor Localized, Partnership with Samsung Established
NFC, Wireless Charging, Mobile Payment Antennas First Applied in Galaxy Phones
Successful MLCC Supply to North American Global Electric Vehicle Companies This Year
10-15% of Sales Invested in R&D, "1 Trillion KRW Sales Target by 2030"
[Asia Economy Reporter Kwak Min-jae] Samsung Electronics' Galaxy smartphones incorporate Amotech's proximity wireless communication (NFC), wireless charging, and mobile payment antenna components. Amotech was the first company to apply these components to Samsung smartphones. It also supplies chip varistors that protect semiconductors and circuits inside products from static electricity to global smartphone companies. Recognized for its technological prowess in the information technology (IT) sector, Amotech passed quality tests from a 'North American global electric vehicle company' last year and succeeded in supplying multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCC) this year. MLCCs are components that control the stable flow of electricity in electronic component circuits.
Kim Byung-kyu, Chairman of Amotech (67), said, "The automotive MLCC market values durability and reliability, and has been monopolized mainly by a few large companies in Japan and Korea with advanced technology. With Amotech's MLCC applied to the advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) of a North American global electric vehicle company, Amotech's technological capabilities have been recognized on the global stage."
◆ Localization of Samsung Anycall Chip Varistors Started 20 Years Ago = Amotech's main products include antennas, ceramic chip components, brushless (BLDC) motors, and MLCCs. Its major clients are Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, Hyundai Mobis, ZTE, and American electric vehicle companies. Chairman Kim graduated from Seoul National University with a degree in Metallurgical Engineering and earned a doctorate in ceramic materials. After spending over ten years at a small and medium-sized enterprise as head of its affiliated research institute, he founded Amotech in 1994. His dream of creating a world-class materials and components company surpassing Japanese firms led him to start the business. In 2000, when Samsung launched the Anycall mobile phone, Amotech was the first in Korea to localize chip varistors, which had been 100% dependent on Japanese companies. After rigorous quality inspections, it began supplying Samsung Electronics from 2003, continuing through to Galaxy smartphones.
High-capacity MLCCs are Amotech's next growth engine. The company has focused on the rapid expansion of the MLCC market alongside the growth of the electric vehicle market. Industry analysis indicates that while about 5,000 MLCCs are currently used in automobiles, this number is expected to exceed 12,000 in the future. Amotech's MLCCs use palladium and silver as electrode materials. Compared to general-purpose MLCCs that use nickel and copper, Amotech's products offer superior durability. While general-purpose MLCCs can withstand temperatures up to 125 degrees Celsius, Amotech's products are designed to endure up to 150 degrees Celsius. The company claims their products perform approximately 1.5 times better than general-purpose MLCCs.
◆ Vietnam Factory to be Completed This Year... "1 Trillion KRW Sales by 2030" = Among domestic companies, only Samsung Electro-Mechanics and Samhwa Capacitor can mass-produce MLCCs. Amotech transformed into an MLCC manufacturer within five years of entering this field. This was built on over 25 years of producing chip varistors, which have manufacturing processes similar to MLCCs. Chairman Kim said, "Although we officially entered the MLCC business in 2018, supplying electric shock protection devices similar to MLCCs to Samsung Electronics for five years beforehand helped us accumulate lamination and composition technologies, which facilitated a successful business transition." Amotech also holds numerous related technology patents that enable the production of various products by combining MLCC electrode materials and applying special materials. Since the second half of last year, it has been supplying communication MLCCs to Chinese telecommunications equipment company ZTE and is undergoing product approval processes with major global optical communication companies.
Amotech plans to increase the sales proportion of MLCCs to 50% by 2025. The securities industry estimates Amotech's MLCC segment sales to reach around 300 billion KRW in 2025. Last year, Amotech's total sales amounted to 198.6 billion KRW.
Amotech invests 10-15% of its annual sales in research and development. Its main production line at the Namdong Industrial Complex factory in Incheon was completed and operational in 2020, and the Vietnam factory will be completed this year. Chairman Kim expressed his ambition, saying, "Based on MLCCs, which are core components of new industries such as electric vehicles and 5G, we aim to grow into a company with sales of 1 trillion KRW by 2030."
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