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South Korea unveils US$19-billion support package for semiconductor sector to compete in global chip ‘warfare’
- Under the package, a financial programme worth about US$12.46 billion was planned through state-run Korea Development Bank
- Seoul aims to help boost the country’s global market share in non-memory chips, such as mobile processors, to 10 per cent from the current 2 per cent
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South Korea on Thursday announced a 26 trillion won (US$19 billion) support package for its chip businesses, citing a need to keep up in areas like design and contract manufacturing amid “all-out warfare” in the global semiconductor market.
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Under the package, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said a financial support programme worth about 17 trillion won was planned through state-run Korea Development Bank to back investments by semiconductor companies, according to the presidential office.
“As we all know, semiconductors are a field where all-out national warfare is under way,” Yoon said at a meeting with top government officials. “Win or lose, that depends on who can make cutting-edge semiconductors first.”
South Korea, home to the world’s top memory chip makers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, has fallen behind some rivals in areas such as semiconductor design and contract manufacturing.
South Korea’s share of the global fabless sector – dominated by companies like US giant Nvidia, which designs chips but outsources manufacturing – stood at about 1 per cent, Yoon’s office said. There was also a gap between local semiconductor manufacturers and the leading contract chip foundries like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, it said.
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Yoon said a 1-trillion-won fund would be set up to support chip equipment makers and fabless companies.
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