[Market Focus] Nextchip Shares Surge on News of Defense Vision Sensor Chip Development

As of 9:35 a.m. on August 5, shares of Nextchip, a system semiconductor specialist, were trading at 5,040 won on the KOSDAQ market, up 13.0% from the previous closing price. This appears to be due to the announcement that the company has completed the development of a vision sensor chip for defense applications.

Founded in January 2019, Nextchip specializes in system semiconductors for intelligent vehicle camera image processing and recognition. Last year, the company posted sales of 32.3 billion won and a net loss of 20.7 billion won. In order to secure new growth engines, Nextchip is expanding its business into the robotics and drone markets. The company has stated that after developing prototypes and building a customer validation base this year, it expects to generate revenue starting next year.

On this day, Nextchip announced that it has completed the development of a vision sensor chip for defense applications, which can be used in a variety of defense fields such as military drones, smart sights, and unmanned armored vehicles. Utilizing its system-on-chip (SoC) 'APACHE6' as core technology, this chip provides an integrated solution by fusing and analyzing data from various sensors?including cameras, radars, image sensors, and indirect time-of-flight (iToF) sensors?in real time.

Nextchip is expanding its collaboration with sensor specialists by integrating its self-developed thermal imaging processor with its existing SoC. The company is currently engaged in technical cooperation with Tianyuan Global, a Taiwan-based sensor company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and Seek Thermal, a U.S. thermal imaging specialist.

A company representative stated, "Based on the vision sensor technology we have accumulated in the autonomous driving sector, we are now making a full-fledged entry into the defense market," adding, "We plan to expand our business scope through various defense projects in the future."