Glass substrates for high-performance semiconductor manufacturing are attracting attention

Glass substrates for high-performance semiconductor manufacturing are attracting attention as new semiconductor theme stocks in the new year.

Glass substrates are made of very thin and flat materials, which can reduce power consumption and improve data processing speed when making high-performance semiconductors for artificial intelligence (AI) or servers.

On the KOSDAQ market on the 7th, Ram Technology closed up to 4,055 won, up 29.97% from the previous day's closing price.

The stock, which is also classified as a small and medium-sized stock in the KOSDAQ market with a market capitalization of about 58 billion won, suddenly attracted attention because it has technology related to semiconductor glass substrates. In July last year, Ram Technology applied for a patent for an etching technology used to manufacture glass substrates.

In addition, small and medium-sized shares in the KOSDAQ market, HB Technology and WICCEM, also attracted investors' attention, soaring 11.48% and 11.07%, respectively.

HB Technology is known to develop semiconductor glass substrate inspection equipment and supply it to Absolix, a subsidiary of SKC. WyChem has also developed photoresist, peeling solution, and developer, which are materials dedicated to semiconductor glass substrates.

Currently, Samsung Electro-Mechanics and SKC are considered to be large stocks that are closely related to semiconductor glass substrates in the domestic stock market. Samsung Electro-Mechanics has built a glass substrate pilot line at its Sejong site in 2024. SKC is building a glass substrate manufacturing plant in Georgia, U.S., by its subsidiary Absolix, which was established in 2021.

The financial investment industry is paying attention to the possibility that glass substrates will enter semiconductor-themed stocks that lead the domestic stock market. In the first half of last year, various semiconductor-themed stocks such as On-Device AI, High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), and Compute Express Link (CXL) recorded a significant increase.

Intel, AMD, and Broadcom, major overseas semiconductor companies, have also started introducing semiconductors using glass substrates since last year. SKC's glass substrate was also unveiled at CES 2025, a consumer electronics exhibition currently underway in the United States, drawing great attention.