Competition to commercialise semiconductor substrates made of glass has entered a fundraising phase. SKC said on Thursday that Absolics, an investor in its glass-substrate business, decided on a shareholder-allocated rights issue worth 401.1 billion won. Glass substrates are next-generation substrates for semiconductor packaging made of glass. The company said the decision aims to secure funding needed for commercialisation earlier.

Absolics will focus the funds on glass-substrate evaluation and customer certification. It will also pursue upgrades to facilities and equipment to raise yields across the production process and improve quality. The effort reflects a view that meeting customers' quality standards is a prerequisite for commercialisation. Absolics has a manufacturing plant in Georgia in the United States.

Product development is proceeding simultaneously along two tracks: embedding and non-embedding. For the embedding product, Absolics has completed preliminary assessments, including verification of electrical characteristics of samples produced at the Georgia plant, and has entered the reliability evaluation stage. For the non-embedding product, it is participating in a project that is set to select suppliers in the second half of this year. Absolics is preparing to begin proof-of-concept work within the year, depending on the final selection outcome.

Additional investment will be executed in line with customer evaluation results and step-by-step milestones. Absolics will first focus on steadily securing the quality level customers require, and based on that will review plans for large-scale expansion investment.

SKC holds 70.05 percent of Absolics, while Applied Materials (AMAT) holds 29.95 percent. New shares will be allocated first in line with existing shareholders' ownership ratios, and subscription procedures will proceed according to each shareholder's internal process. If unsubscribed shares arise, they will be allocated through additional subscriptions by existing shareholders and third parties based on agreements among shareholders.

An SKC official said, "Through this proactive fundraising, we will push ahead with Absolics' commercialisation of glass substrates without disruption and further accelerate preparations for mass production." The official added, "We will continue to solidify overwhelming technology leadership in the next-generation semiconductor packaging market based on close cooperation with strategic partners."