The Inaugural "Automotive Semiconductor Forum" Held
Kyu-Seok Lee: "Taking the Lead in Building Korea's Automotive Semiconductor Ecosystem"
Hyundai Mobis is bringing together more than 20 semiconductor companies and research institutions, including Samsung Electronics, LX Semicon, and SK Key Foundry, to foster the automotive semiconductor industry.
On September 29, Hyundai Mobis held the inaugural "Automotive Semiconductor Forum (ASK)" at the DoubleTree by Hilton Seoul Pangyo Hotel in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, with the participation of 23 companies and research institutions specializing in finished vehicles, fabless, foundry, design houses, packaging, and design tools. The event was attended by Kyu-Seok Lee, President of Hyundai Mobis, as well as over 80 executives, including top management from major companies.
Kyu-Seok Lee, President of Hyundai Mobis, is delivering a welcoming speech at the "Automotive Semiconductor Forum" held on the 29th at the DoubleTree by Hilton Seoul Pangyo Hotel in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. Hyundai Mobis
This is the first time that private companies have taken the lead in joining forces to foster the automotive semiconductor industry. With the current dependence on foreign products from Europe and North America reaching 95%, domestic companies have agreed to form a value chain and create new business opportunities to stabilize the supply chain.
Hyundai Mobis plans to play a leading role in fostering the automotive semiconductor industry. As a "Tier 1 parts supplier," Hyundai Mobis occupies a strategic position connecting automakers and semiconductor companies. The company also serves as a fabless semiconductor designer and supply chain manager, making it well-suited to lead the domestic automotive semiconductor industry.
Kyu-Seok Lee, President of Hyundai Mobis, stated, "We are securing independent semiconductor design capabilities, pursuing joint development with fabless companies and design houses, and expanding cooperation with major foundries. We will actively encourage new market entry by companies specializing in IT and mobile, and take the lead in building a domestic automotive semiconductor ecosystem."
Hyundai Mobis aims to develop ASK into Korea's leading forum. The company will hold the forum annually and, starting next year, encourage the participation of startups and companies with related semiconductor technologies.
The companies attending the event are committed to securing independent domestic design and production capabilities, thereby establishing a stable supply system. Automotive semiconductors involve a vast industrial structure from design to manufacturing. The development process is lengthy, and the quality certification procedures are stringent, making market entry difficult for new players. This is because durability and reliability to withstand harsh driving environments are required, which are even more demanding than for consumer semiconductors. As a result, the field has long been dominated by a few overseas companies.
However, the presence of domestic companies has been limited. According to a recent market research firm, only five Korean companies ranked among the world's top 100 automotive semiconductor companies last year. Their combined market share is just 3 to 4 percent, and even this is mostly limited to automotive memory semiconductors.
Park Cheolhong, Executive Vice President in charge of the semiconductor business at Hyundai Mobis, explained, "For automotive semiconductors, optimal integration with controllers is most important. To enhance the distinct competitiveness of domestic companies, Hyundai Mobis defines specifications specialized for controllers and supports real-vehicle-based verification, which can significantly accelerate development speed."
Kyu-Seok Lee, President of Hyundai Mobis, is delivering a welcoming speech at the "Automotive Semiconductor Forum" held on the 29th at the DoubleTree by Hilton Seoul Pangyo Hotel in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. Hyundai Mobis
Hyundai Mobis expects that by developing power semiconductors and key components-which determine the driving range of electric vehicles-in an integrated manner, it can shorten the research and development period by up to two years compared to developing them separately. This is expected to help partners participating in the ecosystem expansion with Hyundai Mobis achieve results more rapidly.
The same applies to various system semiconductors installed in controllers. This year, Hyundai Mobis is mass-producing a total of 16 types of semiconductors-including those for power, drive, communication, sensors, and data processing-developed in-house through external foundries. The production volume reaches 20 million units. The more domestic companies participate, the faster the localization of semiconductors can be achieved, which is expected to have significant economic ripple effects.
With this forum as a starting point, Hyundai Mobis plans to provide full support to companies participating in building the ecosystem. Having obtained international standard certification for semiconductor research and development processes (ISO 26262), the company will actively share its know-how accumulated throughout the entire process, from design to quality management.
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