We are a designer and manufacturer of analog and mixed-signal semiconductor
platform solutions for communications, Internet of Things (“IoT”)
applications, consumer, industrial and automotive applications. We provide technology
platforms for analog, mixed-signal, power, high voltage, non-volatile memory,
and Radio Frequency (“RF”) applications. We have a proven record
with over 30 years of operating history, a portfolio of approximately 3,200
registered patents and pending applications and extensive engineering and manufacturing
process expertise. Our business is comprised of two operating segments: Foundry
Services Group and Standard Products Group. Our Foundry Services Group provides
specialty analog and mixed-signal foundry services mainly for fabless and Integrated
Device Manufacturer (“IDM”) semiconductor companies that primarily
serve communications, IoT, consumer, industrial and automotive applications.
Our Standard Products Group is comprised of two business lines: Display Solutions
and Power Solutions. Our Display Solutions products provide panel display solutions
to major suppliers of large and small rigid and flexible panel displays, and
mobile, automotive applications and home appliances. Our Power Solutions products
include discrete and integrated circuit solutions for power management in communications,
consumer and industrial applications.
Our wide variety of analog and mixed-signal semiconductor products and manufacturing
services combined with our mature technology platform allow us to address multiple
high-growth end markets and to rapidly develop and introduce new products and
services in response to market demands. Our design center and substantial manufacturing
operations in Korea place us at the core of the global electronics device supply
chain. We believe this enables us to quickly and efficiently respond to our
customers’ needs and allows us to better serve and capture additional
demand from existing and new customers.
We have a long history of supplying and collaborating on product and technology
development with leading innovators in the consumer electronics market. As a
result, we have been able to strengthen our technology platform and develop
products and services that are in high demand by our customers and end consumers.
We sold over 2,000 distinct products in each of the years ended December 31,
2017 and December 31, 2016, with a substantial portion of our revenues derived
from a concentrated number of customers. Our largest Foundry Services Group
customers include some of the leading semiconductor companies that design analog
and mixed-signal products for communications, IoT, consumer, industrial and
automotive applications.
Our business is largely driven by innovation in the consumer electronics markets
and the growing adoption by consumers worldwide of electronic devices for use
in their daily lives. The consumer electronics market is large and growing rapidly,
largely due to consumers increasingly accessing a wide variety of rich media
content, such as high definition audio and video, mobile television and games
on advanced consumer electronic devices. Electronics manufacturers are continuously
implementing advanced technologies in new generations of electronic devices
using analog and mixed-signal semiconductor components, such as display drivers
that enable display of high resolution images, encoding and decoding devices
that allow playback of high definition audio and video, and power management
semiconductors that increase power efficiency, thereby improving heat dissipation
and extending battery life.
Our Display Solutions line of products provide flat panel display solutions
to major suppliers of large and small flat panel displays. These products include
source and gate drivers and timing controllers that cover a wide range of flat
panel displays used in ultra high definition (UHD), high definition (HD), full
high definition (FHD), light emitting diode (LED), 3D and organic light emitting
diodes (OLED) televisions and displays, notebooks and mobile communications
and entertainment devices. Our Display Solutions line of products support the
industry’s most advanced display technologies, such as organic light emitting
diodes (OLEDs), and low temperature polysilicons thin film transistor (LTPS
TFT), as well as high-volume display technologies such as thin film transistors
(a-Si TFTs).
We expanded our business and market opportunity by establishing our Power Solutions
product line in late 2007. We have introduced a number of power management semiconductor
products, including discrete and integrated circuit solutions for power management
in high-volume consumer applications. These products include metal oxide semiconductor
field effect transistors (MOSFETs), insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs),
AC-DC converters, DC-DC converters, LED drivers, switching regulators and linear
regulators for a range of devices, including televisions, smartphones, mobile
phones, desktop PCs, notebooks, tablet PCs, other consumer electronics, and
industrial applications such as power suppliers, e-bike, photovoltaic inverter,
LED lighting, motor drive and home appliances.
We also offer foundry services to fabless analog and mixed-signal semiconductor
companies and IDMs that require differentiated, specialty analog and mixed-signal
process technologies. Our process technologies are optimized for analog and
mixed-signal devices and include standard complementary metal-oxide semiconductor
(CMOS), high voltage CMOS, ultra-low leakage high voltage CMOS and bipolar complementary
double-diffused metal oxide semiconductor (BCDMOS) and electronically erasable
programmable read only memory (EEPROM). Our Foundry Services Group customers
use us to manufacture a wide range of products, including display drivers, LED
drivers, audio encoding and decoding devices, microcontrollers, touch screen
controllers, RF switches, park distance control sensors for automotive, electronic
tag memories and power management semiconductors.
We manufacture the majority of our products at our three fabrication facilities
located in Korea. We have approximately 494 proprietary process flows we can
utilize for our products and offer to our Foundry Services Group customers.
Our manufacturing base serves both our display driver and power management businesses
and Foundry Services Group customers, allowing us to optimize our asset utilization
and leverage our investments across our product and service offerings. Analog
and mixed-signal manufacturing facilities and processes are typically distinguished
by design and process implementation expertise rather than the use of the most
advanced equipment. These processes also tend to migrate more slowly to smaller
geometries due to technological barriers and increased costs. For example, some
of our products use high-voltage technology that requires larger geometries
and that may not migrate to smaller geometries for several years, if at all.
As a result, our manufacturing base and strategy do not require substantial
investment in leading edge process equipment, allowing us to utilize our facilities
and equipment over an extended period of time with moderate required capital
investments.