Asicland [Provided by Asicland]
Asicland [Provided by Asicland]

Asicland, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) design solutions company, posted its highest-ever first-half sales this year and swung to an operating profit. The improvement was driven by an expansion in development projects alongside growing mass-production revenue centered on memory controllers.

Asicland, South Korea's only TSMC Value Chain Aggregator (VCA) partner, announced Friday that it recorded consolidated sales of 113.7 billion won ($80.4 million) and an operating profit of 5 billion won in the first half of 2026. Sales surged 273 percent from 30.5 billion won in the same period a year earlier, and the company returned to operating profitability.

Development revenue for the first half came to 92.6 billion won, while mass-production product sales reached 21.2 billion won. The first-half sales figure surpassed the company's full-year revenue for both 2024 and 2025 within just six months.

Growing demand for semiconductors related to memory and storage systems also contributed to the growth, as the AI market has intensified competition around data processing and power efficiency.

Mass-production sales accounted for about 18.6 percent of total revenue. Both development and product sales grew simultaneously, as ASIC development projects consistently increased and mass-production volumes expanded, particularly in memory controllers.

Profitability also improved. Gross profit for the first half reached 18.3 billion won, with a gross margin of 16.1 percent, while the operating profit margin stood at 4.4 percent. The company said an operating leverage effect reduced the fixed-cost burden as storage controller mass production and major development projects began contributing to revenue.

Asicland is also expanding a recurring revenue model that runs from development project orders through mass production and into follow-on product development. After storage controller products for mobile devices, home appliances and the Internet of Things entered the mass-production stage, the company joined SK Hynix in June as a development partner for its next-generation enterprise solid-state drive (eSSD) controller.

The company is also strengthening its overseas operations. In February, it signed a design and supply agreement with neuromorphic AI chipmaker BrainChip to develop the second-generation AI processor AKD2500. At its Taiwan R&D center, Asicland is expanding its capabilities in advanced processes including 3-nanometer and 5-nanometer nodes, as well as TSMC's chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) advanced packaging technology.

"The expansion of development projects and the increase in mass-production revenue led to our highest-ever first-half sales and a return to profitability," said Lee Jong-min, chief executive of Asicland. "We will expand high-value-added projects and follow-on mass-production business at home and abroad, with a focus on AI and memory."


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