Korea should be on lookout against technology leaks to China
Magnachip Semiconductor said it will be acquired by Wise Road Capital, a Chinese private equity fund, for about $1.4 billion. Magnachip was spun off in 2004 from Hynix Semiconductor, currently SK hynix, the world s second-largest maker of DRAM chips. The company s flagship product is the OLED (organic light-emitting diode) display driver integrated circuit (DDI). In the market for core semiconductors in TVs and smartphones using OLED panels, Magnachip is the world s No. 2 company after Samsung Electronics.
If a company like this falls into Chinese hands, Korea might end up passing on its OLED industry leadership to the world s second-largest economy. Currently, Korea enjoys a predominant status in the global OLED industry. LG Display accounts for 90 percent of the large OLED panel market for TVs, while Samsung Display accounts for a similar proportion in the small and midsize panel market for mobile devices.