Dreamtech to expand into India’s semiconductor modules

[Photo by Yang Yeon-ho]

South Korean mobile phone module manufacturer Dreamtech Co. is increasing its presence in India, viewed as a land of opportunity.

The company is expanding its core business from smartphone components to memory semiconductors in collaboration with its key client, Samsung Electronics Co. It is also diversifying into medical devices, which are seen as a new growth driver.

Maeil Business Newspaper visited Dreamtech’s factory in Greater Noida, an industrial city 40 kilometers east of India’s capital city New Delhi, during the previous week.

The Dreamtech India factory, located on a site the size of 11 football fields, comes into view as one enters the area. This factory, which started operations in June 2024, manufactures and supplies core components for smartphones produced by Samsung Electronics in India.

“We are currently manufacturing smartphone component modules, which is our main bread and butter, but starting from the fourth quarter of this year, we will begin producing new memory semiconductor modules,” Lee Deok-sang, who heads the company’s overseas business division, said.

In an interview with Maeil Business Newspaper, Dreamtech chief executive officer Park Chan-hong said that the company has “begun producing memory products for Samsung Electronics’ device solutions division at the new factory in India.”

“Moving forward, we plan to expand our product range to include semiconductor modules (solid state drives) and smart medical devices, and aim to develop this facility into a key hub driving future growth,” he said.

Founded in 1998, Dreamtech has been developing and supplying various printed circuit board modules used in IT devices such as smartphones and smartwatches. The company started the fingerprint recognition sensor module business in 2012 and began supplying these modules to Samsung Electronics’ smartphones from 2016, becoming the first in the industry to do so.

Dreamtech will manufacture memory semiconductor DRAM modules and SSD products for the first time at its new factory in India, the company’s third production base following the factories in Asan, Korea, and Bac Ninh, Vietnam. The production process involves receiving semiconductor components, assembling them into modules, testing them, and then supplying the finished products to Samsung Electronics.

The significance of Dreamtech’s entry into the memory semiconductor module business is substantial. Not only can the company establish a stable portfolio through diversification from its existing smartphone module business, but it can also benefit from the rapid growth of the semiconductor market driven by the recent explosion in demand for generative AI technologies such as ChatGPT.

The Indian government has also launched a 1.25 trillion-rupee ($14.9 billion) factory construction project for semiconductor design, manufacturing, and technology development. Samsung Electronics also established a new R&D organization for SSDs at its semiconductor subsidiary in India this year.

Dreamtech has invested about 40 percent of the total investment in the Indian subsidiary into the semiconductor production line, covering all processes required for module production, from surface mount technology to testing and packaging.

Expectations are also high for the new growth driver of smart medical devices. In response to the increasing demand for biosensors in India, Dreamtech plans to produce and supply wireless biosensors locally, targeting the Indian medical device market, which is projected to total $50 billion by 2030.

Dreamtech’s biosensors are medical devices that monitor real-time biometric data such as ECG, heart rate, respiratory rate, and body temperature by attaching to a patient’s chest. It has been co-developing wireless biosensor products specialized for remote monitoring with the U.S.’ LifeSignals and supplying them to comprehensive hospitals in India since 2015.

In the smartphone module sector, Dreamtech is expected to handle 20 to 25 percent of the annual production volume from Samsung Electronics’ Indian subsidiary.

“Once mass production of memory semiconductor modules begins in earnest in 2025, we expect the revenue from smartphone modules and memory semiconductor modules to be about 60:40,” a company official said. “In the medium to long term, with the addition of smart medical devices to meet local demand in India, we anticipate annual sales will total around 500 billion won ($362.1 million).”