Support for Prototype Production, Finance, and Marketing
The government has selected 20 specialized semiconductor design companies (fabless) for focused development. On the 28th, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy held a launch ceremony for the 'Global Star Fabless' at the Gyeonggi Business Growth Center, attended by representatives of the 20 selected companies and related organizations.
The Global Star Fabless project is a long-term initiative aimed at nurturing domestic fabless companies into the global top tier. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy selected 20 fabless companies to participate in this project through public announcements and expert evaluations.
The government evaluated factors such as possession of core technologies and their impact, growth strategies, management philosophy, and the level of specialized personnel to finalize 10 'Global Star Fabless' companies with over 7 years of history and high growth potential (Above Semiconductor, Three A Logics, Poin2 Technology, HiDeep, AD Technology, Chips&Media, Jeju Semiconductor, Pado, Dongwoon Anatech, Pixelplus). Additionally, 10 'Rising Star Fabless' companies with less than 7 years of history but possessing excellent technologies were also selected (Mobilint, Supergate, Sapien Semiconductor, Open Edge Technology, Qualitas Semiconductor, EM Coretech, Tech With U, Power LSI, SolidView, HatchTech).
The government plans to support these companies in technology development and apply preferential criteria in areas such as ▲prototype production including Multi-Project Wafer (MPW) ▲finance ▲domestic and international marketing ▲training of design personnel. MPW refers to wafers that support fabless companies' research and development and semiconductor prototype design.
At the event, in addition to the Global Star Fabless launch ceremony, four separate consortium companies currently conducting demand-linked system semiconductor technology development also attended and signed cooperation memorandums of understanding (MOUs) between supply and demand companies. Supply companies within the consortium plan to pursue technology development over the next three years aiming to commercialize semiconductor products that meet the technical levels proposed by the demand companies within the consortium.
The semiconductor design sector is considered one of the two main pillars of the system semiconductor market alongside foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing). However, due to high entry barriers, the top 30 global companies hold about 90% of the global market share (as of 2022).
To promote fabless growth and independence, the government launched a semiconductor ecosystem fund worth 300 billion KRW in June and is also establishing a system semiconductor cluster to strengthen linkage with foundries. Ju Young-jun, Director of Industrial Policy, stated, "We will provide various government support measures to promising fabless companies to produce global top-tier fabless firms, offer new product development opportunities through demand-linked technology development support, and create an opportunity to advance upstream industries."
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