[Special Stock] Microtounano, US Form Factor 5.5 Trillion Won Increase... 2-5 Times More Expensive Probe Card Localization

Microtounano is showing strong performance. Expectations for the localization of probe cards for DRAM appear to be influencing the stock price. The fact that the stock price of FormFactor, a U.S. probe card company, surged sharply in the New York stock market the previous day is also boosting optimism about industry improvement.

As of 9:38 a.m. on the 3rd, Microtounano was trading at 22,000 won, up 2,130 won (10.72%) compared to the previous trading day.

FormFactor is a provider of testing and measurement technologies. It designs, manufactures, and sells several product lines including probe cards, analytical probes, probe stations, measurement systems, thermal systems, cryogenic systems, and related services. After surging more than 17% the previous day, its market capitalization increased to 5.5 trillion won. Strong performance in DRAM probe card sales led to the stock price rise.

Probe cards are components used to inspect semiconductor defects, and DRAM products have relied on U.S. and Japanese imports. With increasing demand for High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), attempts to localize DRAM probe cards are ongoing. SK Hynix has completed the final quality testing of DRAM probe cards developed by domestic companies and is preparing to apply them to mass production lines.

It is understood that Solbrain passed reliability evaluation for HBM probe cards, and TSE (TSE) passed reliability evaluation for general-purpose DRAM probe cards. Microtounano is also reported to have received approval from SK Hynix to supply HBM probe cards. Since domestic probe card companies have passed testing, product supply is expected to begin from the third quarter and be applied to mass production lines.

Probe cards for NAND cost about 100 million to 150 million won, while DRAM products are priced around 200 million won, making them high-priced. High value-added products are known to cost more than 500 million won.

SK Hynix has so far procured DRAM probe cards from U.S. company FormFactor and Japanese company Micronics Japan (MJC). Unlike NAND flash probe cards, which have already been localized, DRAM products have a high technical difficulty, resulting in heavy reliance on foreign products. While NAND probe cards have about 30,000 pins, DRAM probe cards have up to 100,000 pins, which is 2 to 3 times more, acting as a technical barrier.