A Conversation with Bruce Kim and Jin Choi about the Secondary Semiconductor Equipment Market

The secondary semiconductor equipment market has been under a strain as secondary tools have been in hot demand since the chip shortage began in 2020 impacting the entire semiconductor supply chain. Here to speak with Françoise about this are Bruce Kim and Jin Choi of SurplusGLOBAL. They are their company’s perspective, and the actions they are taking to address the situation.   

Kim talks about the growth of the secondary equipment market in Korea, where the company is based. He explains that the chip shortage has not only placed a demand on new tools but secondary tools because of the need to increase the capacity of legacy node chips. He talks about challenges facing companies who want to expand capacity. The main issue is the long lead times for new tools, so customers are turning to secondary equipment. There are also challenges with finding parts for legacy tools.  

To address these challenges, SurplusGLOBAL established its Semiconductor Equipment Cluster. Kim discusses the motivation for building it. He also talks about the company’s new global parts program to support customers around the world who struggle to find replacement parts for otherwise perfectly good tools that have years of life left in them. 
 
 Lastly, to support customers who need to optimize new processes but don’t have the spare lines to devote to them, they’ve launched an R&D Foundry program. Jin Choi leads this initiative and discusses it.  

Kim wraps up our discussion by talking about the role secondary semiconductor equipment can play in creating a more sustainable semiconductor ecosystem. 

To learn more about SurplusGLOBAL visit the website. 

or contact Bruce Kim, CEO, SurplusGLOBAL on LinkedIn. 

SurplusGLOBAL
SurplusGLOBAL is one of the largest one-stop platforms for pre-owned semiconductor equipment.

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