HANMI Semiconductor plans to invest $91.4 million in its eighth and largest production facility as the semiconductor equipment company expands capacity to address rising global demand for AI and high-bandwidth memory manufacturing equipment.
The company will acquire an existing factory from Mercury Co., Ltd. in the Juan National Industrial Complex in Incheon, South Korea.
The new facility covers approximately 221,683 square feet and will become HANMI Semiconductor’s largest manufacturing site.
The total investment is expected to reach $91.4 million, or KRW 130 billion, including approximately $39.4 million, or KRW 56 billion, for the factory acquisition.
HANMI Semiconductor plans to remodel the property and install advanced production infrastructure before beginning mass production during the second quarter of 2027.
By acquiring an existing factory rather than developing a new facility from the ground up, the company expects to accelerate its manufacturing expansion and respond more quickly to customer demand.
Plant 8 will manufacture next-generation semiconductor production equipment serving several rapidly expanding AI and memory applications.
Planned products include TC bonders and hybrid bonders used in high-bandwidth memory production, 2.5D packaging equipment for AI semiconductors and the company’s BOC COB Bonder for high-performance memory manufacturing.
The investment follows HANMI Semiconductor’s $70.3 million, or KRW 100 billion, investment in Plant 7 during 2025.
Plant 7 is focused on hybrid bonder production.
Once Plants 7 and 8 are completed, HANMI Semiconductor expects its total production line area to reach approximately 1.22 million square feet.
The company said that would give it the world’s largest production capacity for HBM TC bonders and hybrid bonders.
HANMI Semiconductor is expanding as AI-related semiconductor investment drives higher demand for advanced packaging equipment.
Growing production of HBM and AI system semiconductors has increased equipment requirements across the industry, while longer equipment lead times have created supply constraints.
The company believes expanding manufacturing capacity now will help it meet customers’ semiconductor fabrication and advanced packaging expansion schedules.
The investment comes as major semiconductor manufacturers are committing substantial capital to new production capacity around the world.
HANMI Semiconductor cited Micron’s expansion of HBM manufacturing and packaging operations across several markets, including Singapore, Idaho, New York and Hiroshima.
Micron has also announced plans to increase its anticipated U.S. manufacturing investment from $200 billion to $250 billion.
TSMC, meanwhile, plans additional semiconductor fabs in Taiwan and has announced plans to increase its total U.S. investment to $265 billion.
HANMI Semiconductor also pointed to increasing semiconductor capacity associated with AI infrastructure, including manufacturing projects connected to SpaceX, Tesla and xAI.
Other manufacturers, including Intel, Amkor Technology and SK hynix, are also expanding semiconductor fabrication or advanced packaging capacity.
The expansion is occurring against a rapidly growing semiconductor equipment market.
According to figures cited by HANMI Semiconductor from SEMI, the global semiconductor equipment market is projected to increase 23.2% year over year to $165.9 billion in 2026.
The market is then expected to reach $201.2 billion in 2027 and $229.5 billion in 2028.
That growth would increase the importance of equipment manufacturers being able to deliver systems on customers’ required schedules.
HANMI Semiconductor was founded in 1980 and develops advanced semiconductor back-end packaging and inspection equipment.
Its product portfolio includes TC Bonder, Micro SAW, Vision Placement and EMI SHIELD technologies serving markets including AI, HBM, mobile devices, power semiconductors, aerospace, low Earth orbit satellite communications and defense drones.
The Plant 8 investment is designed to strengthen that production infrastructure as advanced packaging becomes increasingly important to the semiconductor industry’s AI expansion.
KEY QUOTES:
“The ability to supply semiconductor equipment on time in line with customers’ manufacturing facility investment plans is a key competitive advantage for equipment companies.”
“Through investments in the Hybrid Bonder Factory (Plant 7) and the new Plant 8, we will proactively secure production capacity and ensure a stable response to customer demand.”
HANMI Semiconductor statement
