Powerchip Semiconductor (6770) has seen a continuous drop in its stock price since its listing in 2021, falling from a peak of NT$78.9 to a low of NT$13.9 today (28th). Chairman Huang Chung-Jen indicated that to avoid low-price competition with Chinese peers, Powerchip is actively transforming towards AI-related product lines, including the WoW 3D stacking technology, which has been adopted and tested by several international companies.

In his operational report at the shareholders' meeting, Huang pointed out that facing challenges from Chinese competitors aggressively expanding production capacity in the mature semiconductor foundry market and the depreciation of a new factory in Tongluo that has not achieved economic scale contributed to the company's after-tax loss of NT$6.8 billion last year.

Huang noted that the trend towards decoupling the supply chain from China, due to geopolitical sensitivities among U.S. clients, is further accelerating the restructuring of the global semiconductor supply chain while creating numerous business opportunities. Notably, U.S. foundries are actively exiting China, positioning Powerchip as the preferred choice for 12-inch aluminum processing, which will continue to attract large customers from Europe, the U.S., and Japan for new product introductions. Furthermore, innovations in fields such as interlayers, gallium nitride, and oxide semiconductors are drawing the attention of major well-known enterprises, with expectations for even more new products to enter production lines in the coming years.

To avoid competing on price with Chinese counterparts, Huang emphasized that Powerchip has actively transitioned to AI-related support product lines. Since 2019, Powerchip has been developing the Wafer on Wafer (WoW) 3D stacking technology, providing high bandwidth and low power Edge AI solutions. Currently, Powerchip’s WoW 3D stacking technology is fully developed and has been adopted by multiple international companies, with future expansions at the Tongluo factory focusing primarily on WoW 3D foundry services.

Looking ahead to this year, Huang explained that as the global semiconductor supply chain restructuring gradually completes, combined with rapid developments in 5G, IoT, AI, and autonomous driving technologies, the global semiconductor market is expected to continue to grow in the coming years, driven by the increased demand for semiconductor products, especially in high-performance computing, data centers, and smart devices. The company aims to seize market opportunities by providing more efficient and high-quality semiconductor solutions.