[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s only foundry chipmaker Dongbu HiTek is forecast to rank ninth in the global foundry market this year, a market research firm said on Aug. 29.

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

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 (US$36million) 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 of the US, Taiwanese contract chipmaker United Microelectronics and Semiconductor Manufacturing International, China’s biggest contract chipmaker.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)