- Developed process-integrated etching equipment with quadrupled production capacity and quartered footprint
- Provides equipment manufacturing and supply and video-based remote maintenance and management services
Every industry has companies that are leaders and innovators. Leading companies accumulate technological skills in the market for a long time, and they stagnate right away even from the shortest rests. Companies that dig into this niche are companies with innovative ideas and technologies. It refers to an innovative company such as S-Icon, which manufactures and supplies semiconductor material production equipment. S-Icon is fulfilling customer needs by securing technology for reducing equipment processes and recycling expensive materials.
The major
product of the startup S-icon established in November 2019 is a
process-integrated etching equipment. With this equipment, users can secure the
production capacity of four equipment with just one equipment, and reduce the
cleanroom footprint by 1/4. Eighteen pieces of S-Icon's process-integrated
etching equipment have been exported overseas, including the equipment
targeting 4″ to 12″ wafers. Since its founding at the end of last year,
contracts and exports worth 1.4 million dollars have been made so far, and
sales of more than six million dollars have been recorded, if including
equipment under discussion and consultation. Considering the situation in which
the manufacturing industry is deteriorating due to COVID-19, it can be said to
be a truly remarkable achievement for a startup in the second year of
establishment.
S-icon is
showing performances in the overseas market, and equipment maintenance and
repair services as well as equipment manufacturing technology are also
contributing greatly. S Icon is receiving favorable reviews from customers in
China and Taiwan by providing remote maintenance and management equipment to
solve the situation of having difficulties in overseas customer management due
to restriction of movement due to COVID-19.
"Since we have
many overseas customers, we are providing remote services for immediate
equipment management and correspondence to problem," said Kwon Jae-hyun Kwon,
CEO of S Icon. He is the expert in equipment, parts, and materials with 20
years of experience. CEO Kwon introduced the response service by saying,
"We have secured the technology to increase the customer's equipment
operation rate by identifying equipment problems and responding remotely by
using the image device in the equipment."
After experiencing
delays in the installation of equipment due to restrictions on movement between
countries and self-isolation after the COVID pandemic after arrival and return.
S-Icon is looking for an overseas partner, Kwon said, "Due to the nature of our
company where more than 90% of our customers are located overseas, we need
people to work overseas not only for sales, but also for hardware and software
engineering. To provide quicker and more accurate service and secure direct
production infrastructure for reducing the delivery time, we are looking for
partners in overseas."
He also
commented, "Thanks to the help from Pangyo Creative Center, I was able to start
the business." Thinking about Yongin and Suwon that are close to Pangyo as the
production base of equipment manufacturing, he added, "I need to find
cooperation that can find the pool of cooperation between R&D and
production infrastructure, and wish that the government recognizes the
importance of equipment manufacturing industry and make more investment."
S-Icon is based in Pangyo. Pangyo
Technovalley is the Asia Tech Hub where more than 1,200 companies in IT, CT,
and BT sectors with innovative products and technologies are gathered. Located
just south of the Seoul metropolitan area, easy transportation access and
infrastructure provides the best environment for Korean companies to conduct
businesses.
Various high-tech companies are
located here, with more than 64 thousand full-time workers with a vast majority
in their 20s and 30s. By industries, companies in the high-tech industry are
made up of IT companies, content technology companies, biotechnology companies,
and nanotechnology companies.
With the support from innovative
companies with global capabilities like Kakao, NHN Entertainment, AhnLab,
Krafton, NCSOFT, Nexon, and Hancom at hand, companies in Pangyo Technovalley
made over 100 trillion in revenue this year. A 20% increase from last year, it
is expected to become one of the best IT clusters in Korea in near future,
along with advanced technology research institutes like Advanced Institute of
Convergence Technology, KAIST, ETRI, and KETI working together to develop the
relevant technologies further.
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