Seoplus Global headquarters in Galgot-dong, Osan-si, Gyeonggi-do, visited on the 18th. In the exhibition hall of 25,000 square meters (about 7500 pyeong), about 1,500 various semiconductor equipment were exhibited.
It is the world’s largest used semiconductor equipment exhibition hall. It is a semiconductor equipment worth hundreds of millions to tens of billions of dollars per unit, and the market price is 150 billion won. This company is a general semiconductor company that produces power semiconductors (PMIC) for smartphones and TVs using used equipment that has been used for 10 to 15 years by large semiconductor companies such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix (aka’Firsttier’ companies). ‘Legacy’ company). In Korea, companies like DB HiTek are customers. It is a’second-hand country’ in the semiconductor equipment market.
Kim Jung-woong (55), the CEO of this company, started a used semiconductor equipment distribution business in 2000. Currently, it is the world’s number one in the field of used semiconductor equipment trading. Last year, this company also had a lot of fun riding the semiconductor’Super Cycle (super boom)’. Last year, it recorded 125.5 billion won in sales and 15.4 billion won in operating profit. Operating profit increased 467% from the previous year. Next is a question and answer with CEO Kim.
Used trading 22 years… Cumulative 30,000 units sold
Kim Jung-woong, CEO of Surplus Global, a used semiconductor equipment company, is interviewing with JoongAng Ilbo at an exhibition hall located in Osan, Gyeonggi-do on the morning of the 18th. Osan = Reporter Jang Jin-young
- Do high-tech industries such as semiconductors also trade used equipment?
- “The demand is steady. Semiconductor equipment prices are usually between 6 billion and 10 billion won. It is not easy to purchase such expensive equipment without a large company. However, even small and medium-sized companies cannot do research, so they look for used equipment that is 20 to 30 percent of the price of new equipment. Even large companies can make a profit by selling equipment that they will not be able to use anyway. The used equipment market is still small. It can also be said that the growth potential is high. The global semiconductor equipment market is worth 70 trillion won per year, while the used market is only 6 trillion won. So far, more than 30,000 units have been sold to more than 40 countries. There are about 4,000 trading companies.”
- How do you usually trade?
- “There are three big things. First, find and connect the equipment requested by the buyer. The least profitable, but the safest. The second is to buy and store equipment that is in good condition or likely to be in high demand, and then find a new owner. The margin is the best, but there is an inventory burden. It is also sold by remodeling it to the condition the buyer wants. What is important is forecasting future demand. At one time, I had stocked up the equipment I bought for 1 million dollars (about 1.1 billion won) for 3 years and then sold it for 200,000 dollars (about 220 million won). At times, I took care of the equipment I bought for 30 dollars (about 33,000 won) and sold it for 150,000 dollars (about 167 million won).”
Kim Jeong-woong, the world’s No. 1 supplier of used semiconductor equipment, is interviewing with JoongAng Ilbo at an exhibition hall located in Osan, Gyeonggi-do on the morning of the 18th. Osan = Reporter Jang Jin-young
- How did you get into the used semiconductor equipment trade?
- “There was no relationship with the semiconductor industry. I went to a trading company and was used to buying and selling products. After establishing a company, it sold all over the world from chip mounters (a device that mounts precision parts on printed circuit boards of small electronic products) to pork. Then, after seeing that the semiconductor industry was selected as the future industry, he decided to dig only one well. During the 2008 global financial crisis, the company’s debt-to-equity ratio rose to 400%, but he endured working 100 hours a week. During this period, competitors went bankrupt, and in 2011, it was ranked first in the world. It has been in the top position for 11 years.”
- Samsung Electronics and the Korean government have promoted system semiconductors.
- “The share of memory semiconductors in the entire semiconductor market is around 20-30%. The remaining 70-80% are system semiconductors. The scale is different. Wouldn’t it be better to target a bigger market? For this, the ecosystem must be well established. For example, Taiwan, where TSMC, the world’s number one foundry (consignment production) company, is growing the ecosystem itself. When TSMC wins an order, its partner firms support it. In Korea, there is a perception that’semiconductor business = large enterprise industry’, so the establishment of such an ecosystem was insufficient. Only recently has the government been making various attempts.”
On the morning of the 18th, Kim Jung-woong, CEO of SURplus Global, a used semiconductor equipment company, poses at an exhibition hall located in Osan, Gyeonggi-do. Osan = Reporter Jang Jin-young
Semiconductor production is also like a shared office
- What is the most necessary for Korea to become a system semiconductor powerhouse?
- “Typically, there is a test bed (a system equipped with facilities for testing the performance of new technologies and products). For example, when developing a technology related to semiconductors, there must be equipment that can be tested, specialists who will operate the equipment, and specialists who will analyze the results. However, there are currently only one company that can spend a lot of money on R&D in Korea. So, we are planning to build a 9900m² (about 3,000 pyeong)’shared fab (semiconductor research and production facility)’ in the semiconductor cluster in Yongin, Gyeonggi-do, which will be completed in June. 20-30 companies move in and use semiconductor equipment or facilities together like a shared office. We are already in consultation with world-class semiconductor companies, and about five have been confirmed.”
Reporter Choi Hyun-joo [email protected]