LB Semicon 擴充產能，配合與 Qualcomm 的 10 年協議

LB Semicon's P3 plant in Pyeongtaek. (Photo: THE ELEC)

LB Semicon plans to expand its back-end processing capacity for power management integrated circuits (PMICs) supplied to Qualcomm.

According to industry sources on Oct. 26, LB Semicon will increase its 200mm wafer-based non-display driver IC (non-DDI) packaging capacity at its Pyeongtaek headquarters plant from 26,000 to 36,000 wafers per month by 2028. Its 300mm production capacity will also rise from 3,000 to 5,000 wafers per month. Qualcomm's PMIC orders currently focus on 200mm wafers, but the expansion is intended to prepare for a potential transition to 300mm processes and higher production volumes. Total investment will amount to approximately 30 billion won.

The expansion is aimed at meeting Qualcomm's demand. LB Semicon handles back-end processing for Qualcomm's PMICs used in artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and automobiles. The company receives wafers with completed circuits and provides turnkey services covering bumping, testing and back-end processing.

The partnership began in the second half of 2024. LB Semicon received approval for mass production in August after passing Qualcomm's technical review, quality management system (QMS) audit and reliability verification. It established a dedicated Qualcomm production line, began mass production in early August and shipped its first products later that month. The company uses copper pillar bump (CPB) and wafer-level packaging (WLP) technologies. At the time, LB Semicon announced plans to invest in bumping and back-end equipment ahead of an expected increase in orders in the second half of next year.

"We have signed a 10-year master supply agreement (MSA) with Qualcomm," an LB Semicon official said. "The investment is intended to ensure we can respond promptly to Qualcomm's upcoming PMIC mass-production schedule and expanding global demand."

The capacity expansion is also a contractual requirement. According to a securities registration statement filed in May, the MSA took effect on Feb. 1 this year and remains valid for 10 years, with automatic renewals every two years thereafter. Rather than specifying prices and delivery schedules in advance, the agreement allows Qualcomm to issue purchase orders (POs), which LB Semicon fulfills within its available production capacity. LB Semicon must continuously maintain reserve capacity equivalent to 10% of Qualcomm's six-month demand forecasts, which are provided monthly. The company must also submit a production roadmap at each regular business review. LB Semicon described the investment in its filing as fulfilling its "contractual obligations."

Once the expansion is completed, annual revenue from Qualcomm PMIC production lines is projected to increase from the current maximum of approximately 30 billion won to around 50 billion won in 2028, equivalent to 10.4% of last year's annual revenue. Revenue is expected to increase by approximately 9.5 billion won beginning in the second half of next year. Higher utilization rates could also reduce the burden of fixed costs and improve operating margins.

The investment will be funded with 30 billion won allocated to capital expenditures from the 34.26 billion won raised through a rights offering in August. Of that amount, 24.8 billion won will be spent on bumping processes and 5.2 billion won on back-end processes. Fifteen pieces of equipment, including electroplating, lithography and sputtering systems, will be delivered in stages from the fourth quarter of this year through the fourth quarter of next year.

LB Semicon reported consolidated revenue of 279.168 billion won and operating profit of 20.752 billion won in the first half of this year. DDI products accounted for more than 70% of revenue, with the remainder coming from system-on-chip (SoC) devices, CMOS image sensors (CIS), PMICs, power semiconductors (BGBM) and secondary batteries.