In the second half of August of 2018, Samsung SDI announced that it was exiting the epoxy molding compound for power discrete semiconductor packages. With almost a 4% market share of the 150,000 Metric Tonne epoxy molding compound market, Samsung SDI was the #9 largest epoxy molding compound manufacturer by weight. It is unclear at this time whether Samsung SDI plan to complete exit the Epoxy Molding Compound business or only in the low-cost power discrete semiconductor arena.
Samsung SDI issue a Notification of Product Discontinuance Letter
On August 20th, 2018, Samsung SDI sent out letters to many of its customers announcing the discontinuation of several epoxy mold compounds. The letter read as follows:
130, Samsung-ro, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do, 16678, KOREA
Notification of Product Discontinuance
August 27, 2018
Dear valued customer,
We wish you every success with your business and thank you for your continued strong support of Samsung SDI Co., Ltd. We owe our success to our loyal customers like you.
Unfortunately, Samsung SDI Co., Ltd. has decided to discontinue EMC grades supplied to <CUSTOMER NAME> due to theirs continued operating deficits despite our internal efforts. Under these hard situations, we have no other options than to discontinue production.
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused and we extend our heartfelt thanks for your understanding.
(1) Product Name
Samsung SDI Discontinued Product Name
| Product Name | Size |
|---|---|
| SG-8200DTA | 48MMx62GR |
| SG-8200DTB | 48MMx60GR |
| SG-8200DTV | 48MMx55GR |
| SG-8200DXC | 48MMx60GR |
| SG-8100GSP | 48MMx60GR |
| SG-8200GS | 48MMx60GR |
| SG-8100GSA | 14MMx6.2GR |
| SC-CCCR2 | 48MMx69GR |
| SG-8100GSA | 18MMx8.2GR |
| SG-8100GSA | 14MMx5.8GR |
| SL-7300JX | 18MMx9.0GR |
| SL-7300JX | 18MMx9.0GR |
| SG-8200DGH | 18MMx13GR |
(2) Effective Date: From Sept 1st, 2019 (As of shipping date)
Sincerely yours,
Samsung SDI Co., Ltd.
Young-Hyun Jun
History of Samsung SDI into the Epoxy Mold Compound Market
Samsung SDI is a relative newcomer in the Epoxy Molding Compound business, having acquired this business in 2014 from Cheil Industries when Cheil Industries was acquired by Samsung SDI Co., Ltd.
Cheil Industries itself has been in the business for a long, mostly as a small player, supplying only low-end products with relatively low market share. In the early 2000’s, Cheil Industries started aggressively expanding it’s EMC business by promoting super low-cost epoxy molding compounds for single, very-large volume discrete applications. These applications were typically TO220, TO247 and TO92 packages – very mature products at the time Cheil Industries entered the market.
The sales prices Cheil Industries requested were very, very low – undercutting the competition by as much as 60%. If the goal was to gain market share, it certainly worked and within a few years, Cheil Industries started taking business away from older, more established players such as Henkel (now Huawei Hysol), Kyocera and Nitto. Through 2018, Cheil Industries, now as Samsung SDI grew from a small niche player to the 9th largest epoxy mold compound supplier by volume.
Alternatives to Samsung SDI Epoxy Mold Compounds
Samsung SDI, of course, is not the only supplier of Epoxy Molding Compounds, and with Samsung exiting the business, the more traditional manufacturers with years of manufacturing experience and sustainable price models are interested in regaining the market share they previously lost to Samsung. The packages with which these products are manufactured are mature still, however, and the manufacturers of these TO220, TO92 and ISOTOP packages are still under enormous price pressure from their customers to keep the costs as low as possible.
At the same time, traditional manufacturers are eeking out ever high efficiencies, reducing the cost to produce and supply these epoxy molding compounds. CAPLINQ is no exception to this and we are only more than happy to offer price competitive epoxy molding compounds for each of the Samsung SDI products listed above.
Please follow the links to learn more about our broad range of epoxy molding compounds including our semiconductor epoxy mold compounds, our industrial- and automotive-grade epoxy mold compounds, or our optically-clear (CMC) or reflective-white (WMC) mold compounds. If you have any other questions about epoxy molding compounds, please feel free to leave a comment below or don’t hesitate to contact us.
