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The founder and chairman of WinWay Technology, Mark Wang, was invited to give a lecture at the College of Semiconductor and Advanced Technology Research Institute of Sun Yat-sen University on September 8th 2023. The lecture, titled " Passing the Torch：WinWay Journey and Challenges," involved sharing the experience of WinWay Technology's competitive core technology, products, and global strategies with the faculty and students of Sun Yat-sen University.
Huang I-Yu, the dean of the Semiconductor College at Sun Yat-sen University, pointed out that WinWay Technology was founded in 2001. During the period from 2003 to 2012, the company successively established North American subsidiaries, a Taoyuan factory, a Hsinchu branch, a Kaohsiung factory, and the Taiwan headquarters. In 2013, WinWay Technology was honored with the "22nd National Award of Outstanding Small and Medium Enterprise Award" and the "16th Rising Star Award." In 2018, the company established the Kaohsiung Benzhou Factory and the Hsinchu Probe Card Production Center. In 2019, it received the 15th Golden Torch Award for the Top Ten Outstanding and Potential Enterprises of the Year, and passed ISO—45001 certification. In 2021, WinWay Technology was officially listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange. In June of this year, a new Kaohsiung Plant 2 was established in the Nanzi Science and Technology Industrial Park in Kaohsiung to continue expanding its global business.
Start his own business and sharpen the sword in 20 years
Dr. Huang I-Yu mentioned that Chairman Mark Wang spent 20 years honing his skills, starting from founding his own business to the company's listing on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, and even more becoming one of the top four global test socket manufacturers.
International tech giants such as ASE, NVIDIA, and AMD are important clients of WinWay. Chairman Mark Wang, from an engineering background, has tirelessly worked his way up to having nearly 850 employees and establishing 16 service points worldwide. He has successfully entered markets such as IC test sockets and probe cards, which have long been dominated by foreign companies. Chairman Mark Wang is an exemplary figure for many students.
WinWay Technology founder Mark Wang mentioned that he returned to his hometown to work due to family reasons in his youth. He worked at Fulgent Electronics, a semiconductor testing factory under the ASE Group. With a mechanical engineering background, he progressed from being a mechanical engineer to a production line supervisor. He also led a team to establish testing interface solutions from scratch. Due to the demanding nature of production line management, he decided to resign in 2001 for spending more time with family."When I left Fulgent Electronics, I didn't even take any business cards; I just wanted to take a break," said Mark Wang.
Mark Wang reminisced that a vice president of an US testing company called him about three months later of his break, inviting him to be their agent to their in Taiwan. Considering the familiarity with the products, he could work from home in the meantime, he decided to invest 2 million Taiwanese dollars and founded WinWay at his place. "I couldn't even secure any orders in next few months!" he exclaimed.
Shortened delivery time to solve customer pain points
One day, an opportunity popped up that changed WinWay: a customer needed to procure high-end chip test interfaces from foreign suppliers, but the delivery time was two months. Mark Wang volunteered and said, "Give me a week, and I'll send you two samples for testing." The result was that he delivered the samples in the morning, and by the afternoon, he received a call from the customer requesting an additional 5 samples. At that moment, Mark Wang realized that there was a significant demand for chip test interfaces in the semiconductor industry, but it heavily relied on foreign suppliers. Therefore, he decided to make test sockets the main product for WinWay.
After 20 years of continuous improvement and breakthroughs, WinWay Technology has become a leading provider of semiconductor test interface solutions. The company boasts numerous globally leading advantages in high-frequency and high-speed interface technologies. Its product line spans from wafer testing and package testing to system level testing, including VPC, WLCSP, PoP Socket, Coaxial Socket, MEMS VPC, and more. Among them, the global market share for Socket test sockets ranks fourth. In the future, WinWay Technology aims to target substantial opportunities in emerging markets such as AI and HPC.
Mark Wang mentioned that WinWay Technology has firmly secured its position among the top six global suppliers in the IC test interface market. Over the past few years, the company has undergone continuous investment, talent development, and technological research and development innovation. These efforts have enhanced the trust of global customers, reinforced regulatory compliance, cultivated a strong corporate governance culture, and fulfilled corporate social responsibility. WinWay Technology has successfully achieved a balanced approach to the interests of shareholders, employees, customers, and other stakeholders, contributing to the robust development of its business.
Mark Wang hopes that through the newly established Kaohsiung Plant 2, the proportion of domestically produced probes can be increased. This move aims to strengthen the competitive advantage for collaboration with more IC design companies and to explore new markets. Additionally, the expansion of production capacity for various test sockets and the optimization of the entire automated production process can address the significant demand for semiconductor test interfaces expected in 2024-2025. If there is demand from new Southbound markets and customers in the future, WinWay Technology is also considering establishing a factory in Malaysia.
Dr. Huang I-Yu expressed admiration for Chairman Wang's entrepreneurial spirit and his emphasis on talents. He hopes that students can learn from the master lecture, standing on the shoulders of industrial giants to observe the development of the semiconductor industry. In the meantime, he encourages them to learn the dedicated spirit of Chairman Wang, improving their own expertise. Only by doing so can they contribute meaningfully to the Taiwan semiconductor industry.
