[Technology News] MA-tek's Hsieh Yong-Fen is the best assistant for protecting the national mountain, adhering to the principle of "where the customers are, there is the service."
In response to the current geopolitical issues, countries hope to develop their own semiconductor manufacturing industries, transforming the situation where semiconductors were supplied to the world by Taiwan into a global business. How has MA-tek, as a major semiconductor testing firm, adapted to this trend and delivered impressive financial reports?
Steady and solid, MA-tek demonstrates resilience in adversity.
Rewinding to 2018, before the pandemic, when the US-China trade war broke out, TSMC stopped supplying advanced chips to China. This led China to urgently build new wafer fabs to rapidly develop its semiconductor industry, creating a pressing need for strong support from third-party testing firms like MA-tek. Additionally, in the Japanese market, there was also significant demand from wafer fab equipment and material suppliers. MA-tek proactively laid out plans and tailored multiple solutions for clients, successfully securing these businesses.
When asked about the impact of global semiconductor inventory levels on the testing industry, MA-tek Chairman謝詠芬 stated that the number of projects from fabless IC design companies has decreased, leading to fewer new electronic products (New Product Introduction, NPI), which directly impacts reliability analysis and electrostatic analysis testing firms. However, MA-tek is not affected by IC design companies; looking at the significant revenue growth in the first quarter of this year, the main reason for profit comes from the material analysis (MA) demand from wafer fabs.
Aiming at the central Japan market, focusing on localized services.
Initially, MA-tek focused on the central Japan market and established a laboratory in Nagoya to serve the development of silicon carbide semiconductors for major Japanese automotive manufacturers. After building a good reputation, they also gained support from local semiconductor equipment and material suppliers, and the laboratory is currently operating at full capacity. Moreover, recently, various semiconductor giants from different countries have been investing heavily in Japan. In June of this year, MA-tek also established its second laboratory in Japan, located in Kumamoto Prefecture in central Kyushu, seizing the opportunity for the revival of the Japanese semiconductor industry. The talent at the Kumamoto laboratory not only comes from local employment counseling and human resource agencies but also includes some engineers from Taiwan dispatched to support the local operations.
Not worried about competitors overtaking on the curve, whether it is MA-tek or the entire Taiwan semiconductor industry.
Since MA-tek's material analysis mainly focuses on wafer manufacturing customers, after the advanced processes gradually enter 3 nanometers and 2 nanometers,謝詠芬 believes it will still be beneficial for MA-tek's operations. The reason is that as long as customers continue to have development needs, they will require MA-tek's testing services. In addition to advanced processes, the development of various mature processes will also be an important operational momentum for MA-tek. For example, in the context of various countries accelerating the development of electric vehicles, the chips used in electric vehicles are mainly produced using mature processes, which will represent a significant testing market.
As for whether she is worried about competitors overtaking them or even major clients starting to conduct testing services themselves, turning from clients into competitors,謝詠芬 emphasized that as long as they continue to widen the gap with competitors, there is no need to fear being caught up. Additionally,謝詠芬 does not believe that major clients would personally jump in to become competitors of MA-tek. "Because the need for outsourcing means that MA-tek can do it better than they can themselves; and jumping in would mean competing with MA-tek, which seems to have no niche in that regard."
In response to testing demands, seeking the most suitable candidates.
When talking about the issue of talent shortage in the domestic semiconductor industry, CEO謝詠芬 jokingly said that MA-tek never competes with clients for talent, so there is no problem of talent shortage. MA-tek strongly supports and collaborates with domestic colleges and universities on industry-academia cooperation projects, absorbing new knowledge through advanced research reports from academic institutions, allowing MA-tek to prepare in advance for testing technology.
Apply big data analysis to quickly understand customers' purchasing thoughts.
Regarding the recent hottest topic of artificial intelligence (AI),謝詠芬 stated that it can indeed help the development of MA-tek. She emphasized that through the development of artificial intelligence, she hopes that in the future, MA-tek's information systems can quickly analyze customer behavior, establish a big data database, and accurately develop their business. For example, with a one-click search for the buyer's company position, what types of products they frequently purchase, the industry type of the suppliers, and even understanding the customer's purchasing mindset, MA-tek can immediately proceed with the next planning step and seize the opportunity!
(Image source: Technology News)
