[News Article] AMAT to Establish R&D Center in Korea
AMAT to Establish R&D
Center in Korea
By Kim Eun-jin, BusinessKorea -
Applied Materials (AMAT) of the United States, the world’s largest
semiconductor equipment maker, has decided to establish an R&D center in
Korea. Experts say U.S. President Joe Biden’s visit to Korea last month is
accelerating cooperation between Korea and the United States in strengthening a
semiconductor supply chain. With this investment, all the world’s top 4
semiconductor equipment makers will operate research and production facilities
in Korea.
AMAT will officially announce a
plan to build an R&D center in the southern part of Gyeonggi Province as
early as June, a Korean government official said on June 6.
Applied Materials Korea hired
about 1,000 people from 2018 to last year, and plans to hire up to 300 more
people this year.
AMAT has decided to build the
R&D center because it felt the need to cooperate with large Korean
semiconductor manufacturers. As it is difficult to partner with Chinese
manufacturers amid the U.S.-China economic conflict, AMAT’s is looking to
strengthen cooperative systems with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. In
particular, a rumor is going around that President Biden’s visit to Korea had a
massive influence on AMAT’s investment decision. In fact, AMAT CEO Gary
Dickerson attended a Korea-U.S. business roundtable held in Seoul on May 21 and
met with Samsung Electronics vice chairman Lee Jae-yong and SK Group chairman
Chey Tae-won.
From the standpoint of Korean
semiconductor companies, AMAT's move is expected to help resolve equipment
supply uncertainties in the mid- to long-term.
When AMAT’s R&D center is
completed, Korea will be an R&D base for three of the world’s four largest
semiconductor equipment vendors. Lam Research of the United States opened an
R&D center in South Korea in April, extending its global research network
connecting the United States and Europe, while Tokyo Electron (TEL) of Japan is
expanding its R&D center in Korea. The other company, ASML of the
Netherlands, has decided to set up an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) equipment
training center.
Source: www.businesskorea.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=94101
2022.06.10