As surging demand for artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors drives rapid growth in the wafer inspection equipment market, Korean inspection equipment companies have begun targeting the global market. Alongside the expansion of AI chip production, inspection speed, a key factor in productivity, is emerging as a new competitive element.
IVisionworks (469750), a company specializing in machine vision-based inspection systems, said on the 6th that it has begun developing wafer inspection equipment that increases inspection speed while maintaining detection performance. The company plans to complete a prototype in the first half of next year following proof of concept (POC) in the second half of this year, and then conduct customer evaluations.
Wafer inspection equipment is a core tool for detecting micro defects in the semiconductor manufacturing process. In particular, as production of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) for AI and advanced logic chips expands, processes are becoming more complex and inspection time per wafer is increasing. As a result, technology that improves inspection speed alongside detection accuracy is determining equipment competitiveness.
The market is also growing quickly. According to market research firm Fortune Business Insights, the global semiconductor defect inspection equipment market is expected to more than double, from $6.14 billion in 2025 to $13.41 billion in 2034. The market is currently led by U.S.-based KLA and Japan's Hitachi High-Tech.
IVisionworks plans to secure a competitive edge over global companies by redesigning its inspection equipment based on high-sensitivity optical technology. "In line with the AI supercycle, we plan to advance our cooperation framework and pursue commercialization through partnerships with semiconductor equipment makers," IVisionworks CEO Gil Ki-jae said.
