Hyundai Semi targets non-memory sector

Hyundai Semi targets non-memory sector
SEOUL, South Korea—Hyundai Semiconductor, the new unit created by Hyundai's recent acquisition of LG Semiconductor, plans to focus on non-memory business segments, which are expected to be driven by home and information appliances and by network and communications equipment.

Hyundai Semiconductor executives said they also plan to simultaneously develop a Java-based processor for Internet applications, plus an embedded CPU for information appliances and a range of home appliances- a key segment of Korea's domestic consumer electronics market-and chip sets for digital TV.

"The system IC market will [grow annually] over 16 percent to 2001," said Choi Seong-Hyun, executive director of Hyundai Semiconductor's system IC unit. Choi said Hyundai will focus on returning to profitability in the system IC market and on becoming "the best [Korean] company in the non-memory semiconductor field."

Hyundai Semiconductor has so far invested more than $16 million in its MJ501 Java processor, targeted for information applications like Internet TV, set-top boxes and digital receivers. The chip maker showed its new processor executing a net-based operating system in early September.

Company executives said during that demonstration that the chip maker will focus on developing the most advanced products in the Java-based processor market. They also stressed the need to diversify away from the volatile memory market while coping with rapid technological change.

Hyundai Semiconductor's efforts to move away from commodity production also reflects the South Korean government's efforts to direct chip makers here away from a heavy reliance on IC manufacturing and toward the development of more core intellectual property. That economic reform effort has achieved mixed success so far.

Hyundai, South Korea's largest chaebol, or conglomerate, has been shaken in recent weeks by reports that several Hyundai executives are being investigated by the government. According to press reports here, the probe focuses on whether Hyundai officials inflated the company's share price shortly before the government decided whether Hyundai or LG Semicon would take control of the respective companies' merged chip operations. Hyundai was selected to lead the new chip firm last December, based in part on its high share price and improved financial status.

Hyundai's embedded CPU was developed as a result of a licensing agreement with the ARM Ltd. (Cambridge, England), yielding a 32-bit RISC processor suitable for applications such as digital processing or for use as an LCD controller. Other targeted applications include personal digital assistants and car navigation systems. Products for both markets will enter volume production in December, company officials said.

Hyundai Semiconductor concluded an agreement last year to supply its digital TV chip sets to Japanese TV maker Sharp Corp. Since then, it has developed an audio decoder and a 32-bit microcontroller unit that supports Dolby's AC-3 stereo standard for home theaters.Exclusive to EE Times by Chom Dan Inc. (Seoul, South Korea).