Dongbu HiTek likely to rank 9th in global foundry market

South Korea's only foundry chipmaker Dongbu HiTek Co. appears likely to rank ninth in the global foundry market, a market research firm said Monday.

Dongbu HiTek is expected to generate sales of $640 million this year, up about 8 percent from a year earlier, according to market research firm IC Insights. The sales could place the South Korean chipmaker ninth in the global foundry market.

(Dongbu HiTek)

Foundry manufacturers refer to those that make chips for other companies.

In the first quarter, Dongbu HiTek made a turnaround in both operating profit and net profit from a year ago on the back of increased sales of audio chips for smartphones and chips for touch-screen panels, the company said.

The firm's operating profit reached 40.7 billion won ($36 million) in the January-March period, while sales stood at 183.9 billion won, it said.

IC Insights said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company is expected to retain the top spot in the global foundry market by generating $28.5 billion in annual sales.

The Apple chip supplier is likely to be followed by GlobalFoundries Inc. of the US, Taiwanese contract chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp. and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., China's biggest contract chipmaker. (Yonhap)