Hanmi Semiconductor made its debut at Computex 2026 in Taipei, Taiwan. Chairman Kwak Dong-shin (left) attended Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's keynote at Nvidia GTC Taipei 2026 on June 1 alongside his eldest son, Kwak Ho-sung. [Park Ji-young]
Hanmi Semiconductor made its debut at Computex 2026 in Taipei, Taiwan. Chairman Kwak Dong-shin (left) attended Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's keynote at Nvidia GTC Taipei 2026 on June 1 alongside his eldest son, Kwak Ho-sung. [Park Ji-young]

TC BONDER 4.5 GRIFFIN units to be supplied to SK Hynix

At roughly 3 billion won per unit, order estimated at about 15 machines

Analysts: sales rebound from Q2, new equipment to drive momentum in H2

Hanmi Semiconductor has secured a 44.2 billion won order from SK Hynix for TC bonder equipment used in HBM4 production, signaling a revival in the company's order flow after a weak first quarter. Analysts expect earnings to recover in earnest in the second half of this year as TC bonder shipments pick up and new packaging equipment begins generating sales.

Hanmi Semiconductor disclosed Monday that it had signed a supply contract with SK Hynix for its TC BONDER 4.5 GRIFFIN equipment for HBM4 manufacturing. The contract is valued at 44.2 billion won, equivalent to 7.66 percent of the company's consolidated sales of 576.68 billion won last year. The delivery deadline runs through Sept. 2.

The order is tied to SK Hynix's push to expand HBM4 production capacity. TC bonders are critical pieces of equipment that bond chips by applying heat and pressure as DRAM chips are stacked vertically to produce high-bandwidth memory (HBM). As HBM advances to newer generations, stacking precision and yield management become increasingly important, raising the stakes for bonder equipment.

Industry watchers estimate the order covers around 15 units. With each TC bonder priced at roughly 3 billion won, a simple back-calculation puts the 44.2 billion won contract at 14 to 15 machines. A previous 42.8 billion won dual TC bonder Griffin supply contract that Hanmi Semiconductor signed with SK Hynix in May last year was similarly estimated at about 15 units at roughly 3 billion won apiece.

For Hanmi Semiconductor, the order carries added weight coming on the heels of a disappointing first quarter. The company's consolidated sales for the January–March period came in at 50.9 billion won, with operating profit of 8.46 billion won — down 65.5 percent and 87.9 percent, respectively, from a year earlier. The sharp decline was widely attributed to delays in order placement and revenue recognition as customers transitioned to HBM4.

Analysts, however, largely view the first-quarter weakness as a temporary order gap rather than a sign of structural demand slowdown. Sangsangin Securities recently projected Hanmi Semiconductor's second-quarter sales at 227.6 billion won and operating profit at 110.3 billion won — a quarter-on-quarter sales increase of 347.1 percent, with the operating profit margin recovering to 48.5 percent.

New equipment sales are seen as an additional earnings driver in the second half. Analysts are watching for the possible contribution of new products — including a BOC COB bonder for 2.5D packaging and a TC bonder for HBF — alongside a ramp-up in TC bonder shipments to North American customers. Sangsangin Securities projected Hanmi Semiconductor's full-year sales and operating profit at 785 billion won and 369.4 billion won, respectively, flagging the possibility of record annual earnings.

Foreign brokerages have also been raising their price targets. Bank of America raised its target price for Hanmi Semiconductor to 500,000 won last month, maintaining a buy rating. Although first-quarter results fell short of market expectations, the bank cited the expanding application of thermal compression bonding equipment for HBM and a broader customer base as positives.

Behind the rising earnings expectations is SK Hynix's stepped-up investment in HBM4. SK Hynix has been increasing spending on back-end process equipment to scale up HBM4 output, and the latest order is seen as part of that capacity build-out. HBM4 is the next-generation memory chip expected to be incorporated into Nvidia's next-generation AI accelerator platform.


hong@heraldcorp.com