Taiwanese gallium arsenide (GaAs) manufacturers are looking to capitalize on prospects in aerospace, defense, and satellite communications, according to industry sources.
IDM Transcom has already penetrated these niche-market segments despite its small revenue size in comparison to other Taiwanese GaAs foundries. Transcom has also outperformed its Taiwanese peers in terms of revenue growth this year.
Transcom has secured orders from Taiwan's Academy of Sciences and other government agencies, with the visibility of orders for national defense bids extended to the end of 2024, the sources indicated.
Transcom saw its cumulative 2023 revenue through August surge 21.8% from a year earlier to NT$769 million (US$24 million).
GaAs foundries such as Win Semiconductors and epitaxial wafer supplier Visual Photonics Epitaxy Company (VPEC) are all striving to grow their presence in the aerospace, satellite communications and other niche-market segments, the sources said. Win Semi has expanded its foundry services to include third-generation semiconductors, namely GaN-on-SiC, with satellite communication infrastructure as the target market.
VPEC is particularly active in the fields of AI-related optical communication transceiver components and vehicle LiDAR, the sources said. Fellow compound semiconductor epi-wafer company Intelligent Epitaxy Technology (IntelliEPI) is already involved in the national defense sector supply chain, operating relatively stable thus far in 2023, according to the sources.
Article translated by Jessie Shen
