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Key Foundry announced that it has changed its corporate name to SK keyfoundry. The new name was recently approved by the shareholder, which went into effect starting January 1, 2024. SK keyfoundry completed the submission of applications to register a trademark at the end of last year in Korea and certain foreign countries.
SK keyfoundry, an 8-inch foundry which had been spun off from Magnachip Semiconductor in September 2020, became a subsidiary of SK hynix in August 2022. Post the acquisition by SK hynix, the company has pushed ahead with a name change together with the post-merger integration (PMI) and finally decided SK keyfoundry as its new name considering the business continuity with the existing customers. SK keyfoundry expects to gain a momentum in expanding its business by taking this name change as an opportunity to improve its reputation both domestically and internationally.
Headquartered in Cheongju, SK keyfoundry has a fab with the capacity of producing approximately 100,000 wafers per month, conducting a foundry business to mostly produce mixed-signal & analog chips, including Display Driver IC (DDI), Micro Controller Unit (MCU) and 8-inch wafer-based power IC, which is suitable for small quantity production of diverse products.
In particular, recently, there is a growing demand for 100V or higher BCD (Bipolar-CMOS-DMOS) in the power IC market to achieve high speed electric power delivery and high power efficiency. As a leading foundry in HV BCD process, SK keyfoundry has been actively striving to position itself in the global market of power ICs for automotive and industrial. In addition, for the continuity of supplying power ICs, SK keyfoundry has also started developing the process development of Gallium Nitride (GaN), which is considered to be the next-generation power semiconductor device and is also actively reviewing the development of Silicon Carbide (SiC).
In the meantime, SK keyfoundry has designated 2024 as a year to begin the “deep change” to accomplish innovative growth and change and in connection with it, it recently carried out the reorganization of internal organizational structure. The ultimate goals are to secure new customers by improving our sales networks in the U.S and China and to accomplish high customer satisfaction by providing differentiated foundry process development and improving the quality of our products.
“Name change will instill a sense of belonging as a member of SK Group and serve as a driving force to evolve our company into a strong and agile one,” said Derek D. Lee, CEO of SK keyfoundry. “SK keyfoundry will work hard to gain more ground in the 8-inch foundry market by actively engaging in the market of power ICs for automotive.”
Original – SK keyfoundry
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Key Foundry signed a long-term supply agreement with Vishay Intertechnology Inc. for multiple power MOSFET products.
Power MOSFETs are the typical power discrete device, characterized by low loss, high-speed switching, and high reliability during high-voltage, high-current operation, which are commonly used in almost every electronic device.
According to a market research firm OMDIA, the power discrete market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6% from $21.2 billion in 2022, reaching a $28.4 billion market in 2027. Vishay is one of the global leading companies in the power discrete market, and its power semiconductors are widely applied to automotive DC-DC converters, battery management systems, HVAC (Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning) control, LED lighting, as well as consumer and industrial products such as TVs, refrigerators, washing machines, and VR/AR.
Key Foundry and Vishay have signed this long-term foundry service agreement for multiple power MOSFET products, with a plan to start mass production in 2024. In addition, both parties have begun discussions for other future product development.
With this agreement, Vishay secures a reliable source of foundry services for MOSFET production, while Key Foundry engages with a large customer for automotive power discrete, which will increase its share of automotive semiconductor sales in the long term.
“With this agreement we are taking another step forward in our plan to expand capacity, both internally and externally. In particular, it will help us alleviate our current MOSFET supply constraints especially for our automotive and industrial customers,” said Joel Smejkal, President and CEO of Vishay. “In evaluating foundry partners, we decided to engage with Key Foundry because of its foundry’s capabilities and proactive response, and we look forward to the synergies we can achieve through cooperation with Key Foundry.”
“We are pleased to collaborate with Vishay, a leading automotive power semiconductor company,” said Derek D. Lee, CEO of Key Foundry. “Key Foundry will continue to improve process technologies as well as strengthen capabilities in marketing, quality, and production to expand supply of automotive semiconductors and grow into a leading specialty foundry.”
Original – Key Foundry
