HANMI Semiconductor set its highest quarterly sales since its founding in 1980 on the back of expanded investment in artificial intelligence (AI) chips. With rising demand for high bandwidth memory (HBM) thermal compression (TC) bonders and micro saw and vision placement (MSVP) tools, its operating margin climbed to a record 51.9%.
HANMI Semiconductor said on the 14th that second-quarter sales on a consolidation basis rose 39.5% from a year earlier to 251.1 billion won. Operating profit in the quarter increased 51% to 130.3 billion won.
The company said orders for HBM TC bonders and MSVPs increased as global chipmakers expanded investments in production facilities amid growth in the AI market. A TC bonder is equipment that stacks HBM by bonding DRAM chips with heat and pressure.
HANMI Semiconductor said major memory makers began mass-producing sixth-generation HBM (HBM4) this year, increasing supply of related new equipment. It projected that once preparations for seventh-generation HBM (HBM4E) production ramp up at the end of this year and early next year, demand will also grow for next-generation TC bonders for 12-layer and 16-layer products.
It also expected expanded HBM facility investment by global memory makers to support equipment demand. Micron is increasing investment in HBM production and packaging facilities in Taiwan, Singapore, the United States and Japan.
HANMI Semiconductor plans to unveil a prototype of its "second-generation hybrid bonder" at the end of this year to meet next-generation HBM demand. In the first half of next year, it will release a "wide TC bonder." The second-generation hybrid bonder is equipment designed for mass production of HBM with 16 layers or more, which the company expects around 2029.
MSVP also drove earnings growth. The equipment performs cutting, cleaning, drying, inspection, sorting and loading processes for semiconductor packages. HANMI Semiconductor said orders are increasing as panel-level packaging (PLP) adoption expands in AI Semiconductor packages.
HANMI Semiconductor is also supplying three types of 2.5-dimensional (D) packaging equipment targeting the AI system-on-chip market to global foundries and outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) firms. The "2.5D TC Bonder 40" is for chip-on-wafer processes, while the "FC Bonder 3.5" and "FC Bonder 75" are specialized for wafer-on-substrate processes.
A HANMI Semiconductor official said, "We plan to expand supply of the new 2.5D packaging equipment in line with changes in AI Semiconductor technology," adding, "We will sustain growth by delivering tailored, advanced tools to the increasingly sophisticated AI package market in a timely manner."