SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY
UPDATE
January 2021
McIlvaine Company
Samsung
Launches Vietnamese Semiconductor Plant for Local Government
Daqo New Energy to Invest in Polysilicon Manufacturing Facilities
Samsung
Launches Vietnamese Semiconductor Plant for Local Government
Samsung to stop producing LED screens by end
of 2020.
Samsung Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong recently
discussed expanding his firm’s local production capacity with Vietnamese Prime
Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc.
During a meeting, Nguyễn reportedly asked Lee
to build another semiconductor plant in his nation. In response, the billionaire
said his employer would make Vietnam a “key post” for its research and
development efforts.
Like many electronics companies, Samsung
outsources the manufacture of many of its products. The conglomerate has
established multiple manufacturing plants in Vietnam to produce its home
appliances and smartphones. In fact, the firm produces 120 million mobile
devices annually at its Thai Nguyen province factories,
Having poured $17 billion into the area, the
corporation is the country’s largest foreign investor.
Samsung recently expanded its holdings in the
region by breaking ground on a new $220 million research and development center.
Once operational, the complex will employ between 2,300 to 3,000 people and will
be the biggest facility of its type in Southeast Asia.
Economist Nguyễn Minh Cuong told Vietnam
Insider the electronics giant likes investing in the Republic because it suits
its needs. To ensure production and logistics stability, the company needs
affordable labor, quality workers, and favorable economic conditions. Vietnam
has all of those qualities.
Given these benefits, Samsung is comfortable
concentrating its manufacturing capabilities in one overseas locale.
Although it makes many products in Vietnam,
the conglomerate does not make most of its electronic components there. At
present, it manufactures its chips in four South Korean facilities, two Chinese
complexes, and one Texas-based plant.
Prime Minister Nguyễn reportedly told Vice
Chairman Lee that opening a semiconductor factory in his country would give
Samsung a complete overseas production chain.
In light of recent events, that would not be
a bad thing for the smartphone manufacturer.
Earlier this year, Vietnam played a key role
in helping the electronics titan maintain its global operations during the
coronavirus outbreak. After several workers contracted the ailment, the firm
temporarily shuttered its main domestic handset plant. But it compensated by
tasking its Southeast Asian facilities with producing premium mobile devices
intended for its home market.
Because of a recent government initiative,
Samsung is in the process of localizing its component supply chain. But with its
market capitalization exceeding $300 billion, it could afford to build a Vietnam
chip-making complex. Given the region’s robust capability and political
neutrality, the move would likely pay off for the corporation in the future.
Silanna
Semiconductor Expands
Silanna Semiconductor Asian Center of
Excellence (ACE) Provides Unparalleled Regional Customer Technical Support
The new Asian Center of Excellence (ACE) will
be a great asset for technical customer support by providing an immediate
communication turnaround from operating within the same time zone.
Silanna Semiconductor, the power density
leader, announced the launch of its Asian Center of Excellence (ACE) in the
Philippines focused on Asian customers. Silanna Semiconductor addresses the
ultimate power management challenges with best-in-class power density and
efficiency that delight customers with unprecedented BoM savings.
“At Silanna Semiconductor, we take great
pride in our best-in-class technology as well as customer support, sales,
marketing, and service organizations. We focus on delivering on design-win
driven success and collaborative customer relationships," said Larry Wasylin,
Vice President of WW Sales and Marketing, Silanna Semiconductor. “We are
extremely excited to announce the launch of the Asian Center of Excellence
(ACE). In response to our growing customer base in Asia, we wanted to take a
proactive approach to support and initiate outstanding regional customer
technical support. We want our customer service to match the exceptional
standards seen in our product range and so building a new facility for our
expanding Asian market was crucial. We hope our customers find this to be a
great addition to our customer technology and design support and take advantage
of our new facility”.
As part of Silanna Semiconductor's ongoing
growth within the Asian market, including the recent appointment of a new Asia
distribution partner in EDOM technology, the new Asian Center of Excellence will
be an essential source for customer assistance, education, training, and
information. With the support of the Philippine government, Silanna
Semiconductor anticipates that the ACE will provide job opportunities and
promote further investment in the region.
“As Silanna Semiconductor's new distributor
in Asia, our customers will benefit from the new facility, which will allow us
to provide a closer and higher level of customer support,” said Wayne Tseng,
Chairman of EDOM Technology. “The new Asian Center of Excellence (ACE) will be a
great asset for technical customer support by providing an immediate
communication turnaround from operating within the same time zone. The
all-around support that Silanna Semiconductor has placed to ensure their Asian
customers’ satisfaction is highly appreciated.”
The Asian Center of Excellence in Pasig City,
Philippines began its operation on September 1, 2020.
About Silanna:
Silanna Semiconductor: The Power Density
Leader. Delivering on the ultimate Power Management challenge of best in class
density and efficiency performance that delights customers with unprecedented
BoM savings. Silanna Semiconductor’s DC/DC and AC/DC power converter ICs are
driving key innovations in Travel Adapters, Laptop Adapters, Appliance Power,
Smart Metering, Computing, Lighting, Industrial Power, and Display Power
utilizing the latest digital and analog control and device technology. Silanna
Semiconductor is headquartered in San Diego, CA, is a privately held
semiconductor company, and has global facilities supporting design and customers
with design centers and offices in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
About Edom Technology:
Founded in July 1996 and headquartered in
Taipei, EDOM Technology is Asia’s best distribution and solutions provider. With
subsidiaries in China, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Malaysia , South
Korea and Japan, EDOM provides best-in-class distribution and solutions-based
services to vendors, ODMs and OEMs around Asia and the world. EDOM has years of
experience serving established markets and anticipating the requirements for
leading edge products and applications, including portable and wearable devices,
wireline and wireless communications, Internet of Things (IoT), automotive,
robotics, medical, industrial control, computers and many other applications.
With deep technical experience in opto-electronics, digital, analog and
mixed-signal applications, and excellent logistics and operation, EDOM bridges
the gap between vendors, customers and partners to provide a full range of
services and solutions.
Daqo New Energy to Invest in Polysilicon Manufacturing Facilities
The company also said it would use proceeds from the IPO to bring in $156
million in working capital.
Chinese solar photovoltaic (PV) grade polysilicon manufacturer Daqo New Energy
Corporation has revealed plans to raise $732 million (~₹53.7 billion) for new
polysilicon manufacturing facilities and working capital requirements.
In its press statement, the company said that its application to get its
subsidiary Xinjiang Daqo New Energy Company Limited enlisted in the Shanghai
Stock Exchange for an initial public offering (IPO) has been received by the
exchange.
It added that it intends to use the proceeds from the IPO to set up a phase 4B
ultra-high-purity polysilicon manufacturing facility for monocrystalline solar
PV wafer applications with an annual production capacity of 35,000 metric tons
(MT). This project is expected to cost about $514 million (~₹37.7 billion).
Polysilicon is an essential raw material in solar cells.
Additionally, the company plans to set up a semi-grade ultra-high-purity
polysilicon facility for semiconductor wafer applications with an annual
capacity of 1,000 MT. This is expected to cost $62 million (~₹4.5 billion).
Separately, Daqo also said it plans to garner
$156 million (~₹11.4 billion) in working capital to optimize debt structure,
enhance research and development, and fund business development projects.
To raise these funds, Daqo, which owns around
95.6% of Xinjiang Daqo’s shares, would issue 286,764,706 shares – about 15% of
its total share capital after the offering. Following the IPO, the company’s
stake in its subsidiary would stand at around 81.3%.
According to a research report published by
California-based investment banker ROTH Capital Partners, this move could help
the company bring in low-cost capital that can then be used to add manufacturing
capacity and increase earnings power.
ROTH also believes that production at the
facility for monocrystalline solar wafer could start ramping in the first
quarter of 2022 (Q1 2022) and be fully operational by the second quarter of the
year (Q2 2022).
Recently, Jiangsu Zhongneng Polysilicon, a
subsidiary of Chinese major GCL-Poly Energy Holdings, announced the
groundbreaking of the first phase of its 54,000 MT polysilicon manufacturing
facility using a recently acquired fluidized bed reactor, the company said in a
recent statement.
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