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Gaon Chips, ‘AI chip’ business in full swing… First overseas sales this year

[Seoul = Newspim] Reporter Lee Na-young = Gaon Chips, a system semiconductor development company, will begin mass production of automotive products in the second half of the year. 

A Gaon Chips official said on the 13th, “We have been actively conducting related development with automotive customers. Quantities for promotion are being provided as verification of prototypes has been completed, but full-scale mass production is scheduled to begin in the second half of the year.” He added, “With full-scale mass production, the company “As sales volume can expand significantly, we are also looking forward to performance growth,” he said.

Gaon Chips, which is participating in the development of automotive application processors (APs) and system semiconductors for smart vehicles, has secured technological capabilities related to autonomous driving. Because breakdowns in self-driving vehicles can lead to fatal accidents, it is known that the related certification alone takes at least two years.

Gaon Chips is a design house in charge of semiconductor design support, and has played a role in connecting fabless and foundry companies. The foundry takes over the semiconductor circuit designed by fabless and participates in all processes until mass production of semiconductor chips. It is responsible for not only simple design, but also planning, planning, design, production, testing, and final supply of semiconductors required for vehicles.

Currently, we are collaborating with our clients, Telechips and Nextchip, on all tasks carried out by Samsung Foundry. Gaon Chips was selected as Samsung Electronics’ DSP in 2019 and has been building partnerships with major domestic semiconductor fabless companies such as Telechips, Nextchip, Anapass, Inix, and Macro Imaging Technology.

In addition, as many companies have recently accelerated the introduction of AI, Gaon Chips’ AI business is growing rapidly. This is because, with the full-fledged blooming of the AI ​​market, demand for AI chip development is increasing not only in fabless but also in various fields such as global big tech and AI startups. Sales in the AI ​​sector, which had only occurred domestically until last year, are generating overseas sales for the first time this year, and the proportion of AI within the company is gradually expanding.

An official from Gaon Chips said, “Regarding AI, we are conducting a lot of development collaboration starting in 2020. We have been generating domestic sales until last year, and our first overseas sales are occurring this year.” He added, “As explosive demand for AI is expected in the future, we are actively working with our customers. “We expect our collaboration to continue,” he said.

Gaon Chips, which has been leading the domestic DSP industry, provides specialized solutions for ultra-fine high-end processes such as 28, 14, 10, 8, and 5 nanometers required for the development of semiconductors for automobiles, AI (artificial intelligence), and IOT (Internet of Things), which are high-growth industries. has been provided Currently, 8 and 5 nanometers account for more than half, but demand for 3 nanometers is expected to increase due to the growth of the AI ​​semiconductor market.

Recently, major global fabless companies producing AI semiconductors are increasingly adopting the 3-nano process. NVIDIA ‘s next-generation semiconductor ‘B100’, which is monopolizing the market, is known to be launched in the second half of the year using TSMC 3-nano chips, and big tech companies such as AMD and Qualcomm are also preparing to release 3-nano chips. Samsung Electronics announced in its performance conference call last year that it plans to mass produce the gate-all-around (GAA) 3-nano second-generation process in line with its strategic roadmap this year.

Taewoo Kwon, a researcher at KB Securities, said, “The importance of specialized AI chips and the need for AI services are increasing in various industries such as AI robots, pharmaceuticals, distribution and manufacturing. Gaon Chips is the optimal partner and irreplaceable company for customers who want to use Samsung foundry. “In this environment, it is expected to record an average annual profit growth rate of 98.2% from 2023 to 2026, and is showing superior growth compared to domestic and foreign companies.”

Meanwhile, Gaon Chips is also accelerating its efforts to build overseas markets. Gaon Chips, which launched its Japanese subsidiary ‘GAONCHIPS Japan’ in Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo in October 2022, is expanding into the global market by establishing its first overseas subsidiary.

Last January, GAONCHIPS AMERICA was established in Silicon Valley, USA, and is beginning full-fledged sales as the second overseas corporation following Japan. We plan to establish a Chinese subsidiary in Shanghai in the second half of this year.

A Gaon Chips official said, “We are pursuing the establishment of a Chinese corporation within the year. We are currently following the procedures and are in the process of doing so. We plan to strengthen our local response by identifying the exact demand in the market. We are implementing a full-scale order winning strategy and expanding our presence in overseas markets. “We are actively pursuing strategies to strengthen our global network to target .”

Meanwhile, Gaon Chips recorded sales of 63.6 billion won and operating profit of 3.9 billion won in 2023. According to the financial information company FnGuide consensus (average market forecast), sales this year are expected to record 102.6 billion won and operating profit 8.1 billion won. These are increases of 61.46% and 51%, respectively, compared to the previous year.

nylee54@newspim.com