[Semiconductor Tech Seminar] Fostering Mutual Growth with Supplier Companies by Sharing Semiconductor Innovation Cases

On November 20th, Samsung Electronics held a "Semiconductor Tech Seminar" at the Partner Collaboration Academy. The Semiconductor Tech Seminar is a platform where Samsung Semiconductor shares the latest semiconductor technologies, trends, and industry insights with its supplier companies, supporting their technological growth. It has been held twice a year since 2019. Notably, the seminar's topics and lectures are carefully curated to reflect the needs of supplier company employees.

This seminar focused on the theme of "Next-Generation Semiconductor Industry Direction and Equipment Innovation Cases," examining the growth drivers of the next-generation semiconductor market and strategies for securing competitiveness in the materials, components, and equipment industries. A total of 1,000 supplier company employees participated in the seminar, both in person and online, creating a vibrant atmosphere of sharing innovative semiconductor cases and exploring growth opportunities.

First, Professor Kim Joungho of KAIST delivered the keynote speech on "Next-Generation HBM Structure and Opportunities for Materials, Components, and Equipment Businesses in the AI Era." Professor Kim emphasized the role and importance of AI semiconductors in the current era where artificial intelligence holds the reins of power. He stated, "The era of AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) will begin in 2030, and the market will shift towards high-performance computing for AI. Notably, memory will become a crucial factor in determining AI performance." He then provided a clear explanation of the need for and structure of next-generation HBM, which will be at the heart of this transformation, and delved into the key challenges and opportunities for expanding materials, components, and equipment businesses through this technology.

In the second session, Lee Sukwon, Corporate EVP of the Smart Equipment Technology Team at Samsung Semiconductor, took the stage to introduce Samsung Semiconductor's equipment innovation activities under the theme of "A New Paradigm for Future Semiconductor Equipment." He emphasized, "As semiconductors become smaller, optimization is essential in all aspects, including materials, design, and processes. To achieve an automated fab, it is crucial to build a collaborative ecosystem across various areas, including equipment, components, raw materials, infrastructure, and standards." He explained the evolution of semiconductor fabs and introduced four key areas of change: hardware, software/AI, automation, and ESG.

EUV (Extreme Ultra Violet) is a core technology essential for producing advanced semiconductors, constantly facing the challenge of process efficiency. This seminar showcased the equipment innovation cases of ESOL, a company that has been developing EUV process solutions and equipment. Kim Byung Gook, CEO of ESOL, announced, "We have developed various equipment, including the SREM (Scanning Reflective EUV Microscope) for high-resolution observation of minute." He also highlighted ESOL's progress in domesticating EUV equipment. He emphasized, "To advance domestic semiconductor equipment technology, it is crucial to possess strong conceptual design capabilities and expertise, enabling us to pursue various innovations."

Finally, Lee Kyung-yeop of the National Nano Infrastructure Consortium presented "MoaFab (Fab Service Integrated Information System)." MoaFab is a system that aggregates and provides online access to national nanofab services dispersed across various institutions. It supports data standardization and integrated fab management systems among nanofabs. This allows users to check equipment information and status at each nanofab in real-time. Secretary General Lee concluded his presentation by expressing his expectation that "MoaFab will contribute to further strengthening semiconductor competitiveness."

Samsung Semiconductor's commitment to growth with its supplier companies is evident in its achievement of the highest rating for 13 consecutive years in the "Shared Growth Index evaluation" conducted by Korea Commission for Corporate Partnership, a first for a Korean company. The Shared Growth Index is a metric that quantifies and evaluates the level of win-win growth among large and small companies each year to promote shared growth between them.

Semiconductors are completed through collaboration across numerous fields, including materials, components, and equipment. Therefore, achieving growth points requires all sectors within the ecosystem to work together. Samsung Semiconductor plans to continuously expand the horizon of win-win cooperation to achieve this goal.

(Source: Samsung Semiconductor Newsroom https://news.samsungsemiconductor.com/global/)