Hanmi Semiconductor, Foundry High Growth... Favorable Environment

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hyowon] BNK Investment & Securities analyzed on the 5th that it is a time to invest with a long-term perspective in Hanmi Semiconductor due to the long-term growth trend of the foundry and system LSI industries.

Hanmi Semiconductor is a specialized manufacturer of semiconductor packaging and testing post-process equipment. Its main clients are semiconductor post-process (OSAT) and printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturers. The final customers are 62% foundry, 26% system LSI, 7% memory, and 5% others, showing a high dependence on the non-memory industry.

In particular, Hanmi Semiconductor has an integrated production system and an annual production capacity of 2,400 units of equipment. In terms of annual sales, this corresponds to about 600 billion KRW. The main product is MSVP, a semiconductor package cutting, cleaning, and inspection equipment, accounting for 59% of sales.

Lee Minhee, a researcher at BNK Investment & Securities, stated, “Hanmi Semiconductor succeeded in domestic production of micro SAW last year,” and added, “Among other products, the camera module inspection equipment is for North American smartphone clients, and future entry into electric vehicle/xR semiconductor inspection equipment is also expected.”

Additionally, the researcher analyzed, “Hanmi Semiconductor’s sales tend to move in line with capital investments by foundry/OSAT companies,” and explained, “The stagnation in sales growth this year is because although TSMC is making aggressive investments again this year, most are for advanced processes (in-house packaging), and outsourced volumes to OSAT have not increased significantly.”

He continued, “Moreover, city lockdowns in China and delays in equipment import in the first half of the year had an impact,” but said, “However, next year, a favorable business environment is expected due to the expansion of outsourced volumes to OSAT and the completion of AMKOR’s Vietnam factory.”

Furthermore, he analyzed, “This year, the company’s performance momentum is not significant and stock price gains will be limited due to concerns about front-end demand,” but added, “However, considering the continued growth of order backlogs compared to the previous year and the long-term growth trend of the foundry/system LSI industry, it is a time to approach investment with a long-term perspective.”