The fabless and foundry industries have joined forces to overcome the slump in the memory sector and the limitations of the domestic semiconductor ecosystem.

On the 6th, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups held the 'Fabless-Foundry Win-Win Council' (hereinafter the Win-Win Council) at the Pangyo Startup Zone in Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do, presided over by the Director of Startup Policy at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, with the participation of the Korea Fabless Industry Association and four domestic foundry companies including Samsung Electronics.

The mutual cooperation council began with a presentation on 'System Semiconductor Industry Trends and Key Issues' by Professor Ki-Chang Choi of the Seoul National University System Semiconductor Industry Promotion Center. It was reported that detailed plans and support measures for the '2023 Fabless Challenge,' which has been held annually since last year, as well as the 'plan for technology exchange between new industries and cross-sectors,' were discussed.

The Fabless Association proposed "measures to establish R&D support and cooperation networks for the smooth growth of fabless companies," and the Korea Technology Guarantee Fund continued the discussion by proposing the idea of "special contributions from major domestic foundries to expand fabless IP guarantees."

In addition, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced that it will strive to expand win-win cooperation in new industries by continuously promoting initiatives such as the 'Relay Meetings for Startups in New Industries' and 'Cross-industry Exchange Meetings in New Industries.'

Minister Lee Young stated, “Currently, the competitiveness of Korea’s system semiconductor industry is relatively lower compared to memory semiconductors, and in order to secure competitiveness in the system semiconductor market, balanced growth of fabless companies (design) and foundries (production) and open innovation are necessary.”

In addition, Minister Lee added, “The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will actively promote win-win cooperation between companies and industries, along with the ‘Super-Grid Startup 1000+ Project,’ which will be fully implemented starting this year to enhance the competitiveness of the fabless industry and foster innovative deep tech in the semiconductor sector.”

Meanwhile, the Win-Win Council is a regular communication channel involving the fabless industry, foundries, and officials from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups to secure competitiveness in the domestic fabless industry and the system semiconductor sector as a whole. It has been held regularly since January of last year to resolve difficulties faced by small and medium-sized fabless companies, concretize cooperation plans, and expand the achievements of win-win cooperation.