[Featured Stock] NineTech Partners with Major Corporations to Enter Semiconductor Devices... Expected to Supply Home Appliances for Clients

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] NineTech's stock price is soaring. The news that the company is expanding its business by developing semiconductor devices following semiconductor equipment appears to be influencing the stock price.

As of 12:12 PM on the 7th, NineTech is trading at 4,200 KRW, up 14.13% from the previous trading day.

NineTech announced that it was selected as a research and development company for the ‘2022 Excellent Enterprise Research Institute Fostering Project ATC+’ hosted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

ATC+ is a project aimed at fostering small and medium-sized enterprise-affiliated research institutes as core agents of corporate growth and industrial innovation by supporting the enhancement of research and development (R&D) capabilities. The project NineTech is participating in is titled ‘Development of Thermoelectric Devices and Application Technologies Applicable to Premium Home Appliances.’ The company will receive 1.89 billion KRW in funding over a total development period of 45 months.

Thermoelectric devices are semiconductor devices that generate temperature differences through electricity. Due to their small size and lack of noise and vibration, they are becoming a trend as substitutes for compressors in small premium home appliances. NineTech is developing thermoelectric devices with Company A. They are establishing research facilities and a prototype production line related to thermoelectric devices at their Suwon Plant 3. The goal is mass production within the year, and the related industry expects these devices to be used in premium products of global home appliance companies.

A NineTech representative said, "We are proactively identifying technology demand and preparing for localization and commercialization," adding, "We will reduce dependence on imports of thermoelectric devices and train specialized personnel."

Earlier, in April, NineTech agreed to supply semiconductor wet equipment to Silicon Box in Singapore. They are also developing consumable focus rings used in semiconductor etching processes. Focus rings fix silicon wafers and play roles in maintaining plasma (a state where gas is separated into electrons and positively charged ions) density and preventing lateral contamination.

NineTech specializes in producing equipment tailored for the assembly process in secondary battery manufacturing. Specifically, they manufacture and supply lamination equipment that bonds notched unit electrodes and stacking equipment that stacks a certain number of layers according to the capacity of secondary batteries. The lamination and stacking equipment are supplied to LG Chem’s domestic (Ochang) plant as well as plants in Poland and China. In March, they also signed a supply contract for vacuum system equipment with LG Electronics.