Demand for HBM is pushing Japanese equipment manufacturers to increase their presence in South Korea

Both of the largest memory manufacturers of the HBM family operate in South Korea, so in the face of a sharp increase in demand for it, equipment suppliers are trying to strengthen cooperation with Samsung and SK hynix. Japanese chip equipment manufacturers are no exception; they are actively increasing their presence in South Korea.

Image Source: SK Hynix

Now SK hynix controls approximately 50% of the global HBM market, rival Samsung Electronics claims 40%, and the remaining 10% went to the American company Micron Technology. According to the Nikkei Asian Review, Japanese chip equipment manufacturers are showing interest in expanding their presence in areas where HBM chip manufacturing capacity is concentrated. In South Korea, the specialized cluster is located in Yongin, 40 km from the capital. This technology park will be commissioned in 2027, where Samsung and SK hynix will produce HBM and other advanced products. Tokyo Electron is going to open its fourth research center in South Korea in Yongin. The Korean representative office of the Japanese equipment manufacturer has doubled its staff over the past five years. The increase was mainly due to an increase in the number of engineers servicing equipment operated by Tokyo Electron customers.

The HBM production technology itself implies more active interaction between memory manufacturers and equipment suppliers, as well as the integration of ready-made chips with third-party logic components. In addition, thinner silicon wafers are used to produce HBM, since the memory stack is formed from several layers, the number of which will eventually reach 16 pieces. Gartner predicts that by 2027, the HBM market will grow almost sixfold to $17.5 billion per year.

Japanese equipment supplier Towa plans to launch its facility in Cheonan, Korea, by March 2025 to produce equipment used in the final stages of packaging HBM memory chips. Tens of millions of US dollars will be spent on these needs. Once this facility is operational, Towa equipment production volumes in South Korea will double compared to fiscal year 2024. Before this, Towa produced its equipment mainly in China and Malaysia. The company’s strategy involves locating its own factories in close proximity to large equipment buyers.

Japanese company Disco, a manufacturer of equipment for machining silicon wafers, is increasing its workforce in South Korea. Starting this year, specialists without knowledge of Japanese are hired here. The company considers it important to expand its workforce with an eye to growing demand. It is noteworthy that in general, the South Korean semiconductor industry covers only 20% of its need for equipment for chip production from products produced in the country. The complexity of working in this market segment repels new participants from it, although Hanwha Group has announced its intentions to develop equipment for assembling HBM memory stacks. The South Korean government is ready to support with subsidies not only national equipment manufacturers, but also foreign ones if they localize their enterprises. Cooperation with Japan has recently been facilitated by the warming of relations with South Korea, since previously such interaction could be subject to public condemnation for historical reasons.