Future of S. Korea's non-memory semiconductor industry
- 5 years ago
정부, '비메모리 반도체’ 육성 이유 및 전망은?
Late last month, the government announced plans to foster the system semiconductors, or more precisely, system IC industry.
How do those in the industry feel about these measures?
Ko Roon-hee met up with them for their take on the matter.
Nextchip, a Korean fabless firm, designs and develops system integrated circuits processing camera video signals.
Recently it has been focusing on developing 'advanced driver assistance systems' chips for automotive cameras.
These chips can automatically recognize pedestrians and cars driving at high speeds.
Nextchip is one of many companies that welcomed the South Korean government's announcement last month that it will focus on system semiconductors as a new growth engine.
The government's specific plans include connecting "fabless" companies with other firms in need of chips and training 17-thousand personnel by 2030.
The chief technology officer at Nextchip explained what he expects from the government.
"There is a shortage of workers... and chip production costs are also increasing. For this plan to work well, I hope the entire semiconductor ecosystem experiences high-quality growth... so that it can stimulate competitiveness for various sectors including fabless and foundry companies."
The government's decision to venture into new sectors comes after Korea's exports fell on-year for five consecutive months.
This was mainly due to a fall in prices and lower demand for memory chips which account for roughly 20-percent of Korea's total exports.
Experts shared their views on how to make the most use out of the government's move.
"In the system IC field, it is very important for companies to dominate the market in advance. Therefore, Korea should pay attention to what products related to IT or IoT are developed in the future. And designing semiconductors accordingly is necessary."
"In the future, semiconductors might be used in traditional industries such as agriculture. For instance, agricultural machines can become more digitized. If semiconductors' technology expands to other industries, this will not only create jobs but also contribute to economic growth."
Meanwhile, the future is bright for the system IC industry...as the global market size of system chips is expected to stand at 265-point-9 billion dollars by 2022.
Ko Roon-hee, Arirang News.
Late last month, the government announced plans to foster the system semiconductors, or more precisely, system IC industry.
How do those in the industry feel about these measures?
Ko Roon-hee met up with them for their take on the matter.
Nextchip, a Korean fabless firm, designs and develops system integrated circuits processing camera video signals.
Recently it has been focusing on developing 'advanced driver assistance systems' chips for automotive cameras.
These chips can automatically recognize pedestrians and cars driving at high speeds.
Nextchip is one of many companies that welcomed the South Korean government's announcement last month that it will focus on system semiconductors as a new growth engine.
The government's specific plans include connecting "fabless" companies with other firms in need of chips and training 17-thousand personnel by 2030.
The chief technology officer at Nextchip explained what he expects from the government.
"There is a shortage of workers... and chip production costs are also increasing. For this plan to work well, I hope the entire semiconductor ecosystem experiences high-quality growth... so that it can stimulate competitiveness for various sectors including fabless and foundry companies."
The government's decision to venture into new sectors comes after Korea's exports fell on-year for five consecutive months.
This was mainly due to a fall in prices and lower demand for memory chips which account for roughly 20-percent of Korea's total exports.
Experts shared their views on how to make the most use out of the government's move.
"In the system IC field, it is very important for companies to dominate the market in advance. Therefore, Korea should pay attention to what products related to IT or IoT are developed in the future. And designing semiconductors accordingly is necessary."
"In the future, semiconductors might be used in traditional industries such as agriculture. For instance, agricultural machines can become more digitized. If semiconductors' technology expands to other industries, this will not only create jobs but also contribute to economic growth."
Meanwhile, the future is bright for the system IC industry...as the global market size of system chips is expected to stand at 265-point-9 billion dollars by 2022.
Ko Roon-hee, Arirang News.