Samsung Electronics

The global chip market has hit the bottom of this cycle and will rebound next year, with memory poised for growth in the second of 2023 driven by a resurgence in server investments, Soo-Kyoum Kim, Vice President of IDC, predicted in a presentation at SEMI Korea Members Day.

a memory market rebound will help spark a global semiconductor industry recovery poised to take hold in the second half of 2023 after the downturn that came on the heels of the pandemic boom, SEMI and major market research firms projected at Strategic Materials Conference (SMC) Korea 2023.

The Honorable Al Gore delivered inspiring opening remarks at the Nov. 10 session, congratulating the SCC for forming, setting its ambition, and committing to collaboration, transparency and ambition.

SEMI Korea provides the latest updates on the economy, COVID-19, semiconductor industry Investments, government and university Initiatives, workforce development, SEMI events and SEMI Members Day.

SEMI Korea’s efforts to recruit talent and increase diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) to help meet the semiconductor industry’s current and future workforce needs are growing in importance as the industry presses ahead to recruit skilled workers.

Once an unpopular career destination for university graduates in Korea, the semiconductor industry has been a plum target since the rise of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix as global leaders and key growth engines for the Korean economy. The industry’s outsize role in innovation of cutting-edge technologies and applications such as artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), 5G and autonomous driving has added to the appeal.The draw of a career in chip manufacturing is even stronger when new graduates from Korean universities consider the semiconductor industry’s rapid growth of 22.2% in 2017 and 15.5% in 2018, according to VLSI Research. Yet, even before earning their degrees, many students are unclear about steps they need to take to prepare for a career in the industry and the type of work available to them.These questions and concerns were on the top of the minds of 250 students who gathered at COEX in Seoul in mid-November for SEMI Campus Outreach, a half day of career insights from global chip companies including Lam Research, Applied Materials, Tokyo Electron, and KLA along with leading semiconductor companies in Korea such as SEMES, EO technics, JUSUNG ENGINEERING, DONGJIN SEMICHEM, PSK and Wonik IPS. Keynote - Inhak Harry Suh, CEO, Lam Research Korea 250 students gathered at Campus Outreach Campus Outreach keynote speaker Inhak Harry Suh, CEO of Lam Research Korea, stressed that talented new graduates hold the key to leading the semiconductor industry into the Industry 4.0 era and the next phase of growth. He urged the students to look for a company that treats its employees with respect and fairness and to enjoy their work. Joining the executives in inspiring the students, field and service engineers highlighted the semiconductor industry’s strong growth potential, described their job responsibilities and the skills students need to develop to thrive, and offered guidance on subjects to study in school to best prepare students for jobs in the industry. On the recruiting side, human resources representatives at the event provided overviews of their companies and skills they’re looking for as they court talent. Campus Outreach sponsors At SEMICON Korea 2020 – Feb. 5-7 at COEX in Seoul – SEMI will continue to cultivate industry talent at the Workforce Development Pavilion. To help the industry solve its critical talent shortage, the pavilion will offer university students interviews with industry experts and tutorials on semiconductor production as the students explore career paths and are mentored by engineers during the Meet the Experts program. And with a diverse workforce recognized as a competitive advantage, the Women-in-Technology session will gather leaders to discuss how the industry can improve diversity.Jaegwan Shim is a marketing specialist at SEMI Korea.

The more than 53,000 people who flocked to SEMICON Korea last month were treated to a motherlode of insight into the future of the semiconductor industry as 470 companies exhibited innovative technologies in more than 2,000 booths. But the annual event’s most arresting numbers came in keynotes and other presentations pointing to the extraordinary industry growth that lies ahead.“It is no exaggeration to say that 90 percent of the world’s data has been generated in the last few years,” said Jim Feldhan, president of Semico Research. “This explosive growth of data is expected to continue. That's why server shipments will grow by 20.3 percent, or 30 million units, this year alone.”Feldhan said that the Internet of Things (IoT) will be a chief driver of semiconductor industry growth, with IoT expected to be applied in areas as varied as automotive, smart cities, edge computers, finance, architecture, agriculture and healthcare. For its part, artificial intelligence (AI) will start to exercise human-like judgment. Feldhan noted that in many instances in these fields, “it is more accurate to apply AI and vision systems than to rely on traditional decision-making.”Yoon Jong Lee, senior vice president of DB HiTek, predicted that the Internet, AI and 5G will drive market growth. “Looking back over the past 30 years, semiconductor market growth was powered by PCs, the Internet and cell phones, yet last year memory accounted for 35 percent of total semiconductor sales, more than double the figure in 2016,” he said. He predicted that, in 2019, the foundry sector will outstrip the semiconductor market in growth, noting that the average growth rate of the semiconductor industry is expected to be 4.1 percent, compared to 7.1 percent for the foundry market. Clark Tseng, director of SEMI, reported that the strong semiconductor growth in 2018 is unlikely to continue in 2019 due to the decline in memory pricing, as well as mobile and PC demand. “Demand for semiconductors is likely to decline in the first half as the industry is still digesting inventory and rebound in the second,” Tseng said. Semiconductor industry growth headwinds include decreases in high-end smartphone purchases, PC demand and demand for DRAMs for servers in data centers, Tseng said. Declines in economic growth and consumption in China and the U.S.-China trade war will also contribute to a slowdown. However, Tseng noted that, over the long term, technology innovation will continue and that the semiconductor industry’s prospects remain bright.One key innovation will be the elimination of AI’s reliance on Internet connections in the future. In his opening day keynote, Eunsoo Shim, senior vice president at Samsung Electronics, emphasized that AI technology that operates without the Internet in the future is essential. “We are developing 'on-device AI' technology that incorporates AI algorithms in products such as smartphones and autonomous vehicles,” he said. "When on-device AI technology is implemented, it reduces reliance on the Internet, battery consumption, and data latency.” Reducing latency will significantly improve device response time.Walden C. Rhines, CEO Emeritus of Mentor, a Siemens business, predicted that AI will fuel rapid memory growth. The memory semiconductor (DRAM, NAND flash) market is expected to see a temporary slowdown this year, with the market expected to rebound in 2020. Rhines said that memory could be seen as an early market with rapid future growth, citing memory market super-booms in 1995 and 2000.“Memory production has not decreased since 1995 or 2000,” he said. “Although memory prices will temporarily fall this year after significant market growth in 2017 to 2018, the market will continue to grow as memory production increases,” he said. Rhines added that “although memory prices will drop by about 10 percent this year, he believes prices will increase 6 percent next year.” He also predicted the steady growth of the non-memory semiconductor market as AI technology matures and China’s investment in fabless companies continues.Indeed, SEMICON Korea speakers made it clear that concerns about the growth of the semiconductor industry are expected to be short-lived. While overall growth is likely to slow in 2019, the industry is expected to rebound steadily – powered by the semiconductor industry paradigm shift led by AI, IOT, and autonomous driving – and reach a new high of nearly $541 billion in 2020.Jaegwan Shim is a marketing specialist at SEMI Korea.