Tech companies forge commercial links at SEMICON Taiwan

The British Office in Taipei arranged for 24 UK innovators to attend, while the UK-APAC Tech Growth Programme team secured 31 matchmaking meetings for seven of these with major Taiwanese semiconductor companies including TSMC, Winbond, MediaTek, Foxconn, Powertech, Delta Electronics and Chipbond.

The official delegation of UK companies – double the number which attended last year – exhibited within a ‘UK Pavilion’ at the event, organised by the British Office in Taipei, the UK Government’s representative body in Taiwan.

The meetings for seven of these companies were facilitated by the UK-APAC Tech Growth Programme, which is funded by the UK Department for Business & Trade to provide free and subsidised support for companies wishing to expand in Asia Pacific. The Programme is delivered on behalf of the government by international business consultancy Intralink.

The seven UK companies were:

• IceMOS Technology – Belfast-based developers of SJMOSFETS (super junction metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors), MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems) and advanced engineering substrates
• Loadpoint – Swindon-headquartered manufacturers of precision air-bearing and dicing technologies essential for producing silicon wafers and advanced optics
• Gorilla Technology Group – London-based specialists in AI-driven technologies for sectors including smart cities, transportation and healthcare
• ipTEST – Guildford-based innovators in high volume production testers for all types of discrete power semiconductors
• Quantum Science – Warrington-headquartered pioneers of infrared quantum dot technology for fields including electric vehicles, drones and smartphone cameras
• Smartkem – Manchester-based developers of organic semiconductor materials that enable display manufacturers to produce a new generation of lower-cost, higher performing displays
• Thermco Systems – Sussex-based makers of specialised semiconductor production equipment including horizontal diffusion furnaces and expitaxial reactors.

Rami Zakaria, VP of Sales & Marketing at IceMOS Technology Corporation, said: “Taiwan is one of the most important regions for our business in terms of supply chain and customers, and SEMICON Taiwan provided an exceptional opportunity to explore new business opportunities in its thriving semiconductor industry.

“The exhibition, pavilion and other activities created a fantastic environment for networking and helped us uncover valuable openings for growth in Taiwan. We established important business partnerships with several companies and gained contacts at major electronics manufacturers.”

Steve Tillman, General Manager at Loadpoint, said: “I’ve attended many exhibitions, but I’ve never had access to the senior level of visitors from globally-prestigious semiconductor organisations that we had at SEMICON Taiwan. As well as having senior passers-by, the targeted meetings were well structured and a good fit with the way we can serve the Taiwanese market.”

SEMICON Taiwan, held in Taipei from 4-6 September, attracted more than 85,000 delegates from the global semiconductor industry this year. 

His Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for Asia Pacific, Martin Kent, also launched the latest report from the UK-APAC Tech Growth Programme at the expo. Titled ‘Northeast Asia’s Semiconductor Market’, the report examines the chip industry in Taiwan, Japan and South Korea, highlighting opportunities for UK companies and providing advice on entering these markets. It is available for free download here.  

The UK-APAC Tech Growth Programme helps UK tech companies expand in South Korea, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, as well as Taiwan. Intralink’s teams on the ground in Asia Pacific identify participants’ business opportunities, provide market entry advice and help them sell their products, forge partnerships and raise investment.