[Edaily Reporter Kwon Oh Seok ] Global semiconductor materials company MKElectron(033160)announced on the 29th that it had achieved cumulative sales of 10 billion won as of July 2026 in its palladium alloy (Pd Alloy) materials business for semiconductor testing. The company explained that, following its existing semiconductor packaging materials business centered on bonding wires and solder balls, the materials business for testing processes is now making a significant contribution to earnings and is establishing itself as a new growth engine.

Having fully launched its Pd Alloy business in 2024, MKElectron has established initial customer evaluations and a supply base. After recording sales of approximately 2.2 billion won in 2025, the company is projected to reach annual sales in the 10 billion won range in 2026, marking its entry into a phase of rapid growth. This growth momentum is further accelerating as demand for test materials rises rapidly alongside the expansion of the high-performance semiconductor market, including AI semiconductors and HBM.
Pd Alloy is a core material used in the plungers of pogo pins in semiconductor test sockets. Plungers come into direct contact with the chip during wafer and package testing to transmit electrical signals. Since they must maintain high durability, low contact resistance, and excellent electrical stability even under repetitive contact conditions, the performance of this material is considered a key factor determining test accuracy and reliability.
With the recent proliferation of AI semiconductors, the share of AI accelerators such as GPUs and TPUs, as well as high-performance memory like HBM, is rapidly expanding, thereby increasing the importance of the testing process. Since AI semiconductors, which feature high-speed, large-capacity data processing and high power consumption, require high-current and high-load environments even during testing, demand for high-performance contact materials that exhibit minimal wear and changes in electrical resistance due to repeated contact is also growing rapidly.
In response to these market changes, MKElectron has commercialized Pd Alloy as a high-value-added material for testing. Following the stabilization of mass production, the company is pursuing product enhancement and the development of a new lineup designed to improve service life, while expanding its supply to overseas markets such as China and Japan to broaden its global customer base.
The Pd Alloy business is also significant in terms of expanding MKElectron’s materials portfolio. While its existing flagship products—bonding wire and solder balls—are core materials for semiconductor packaging processes, Pd Alloy is a new material that expands the company’s scope of application to the testing process. Through this, MKElectron is building a back-end materials portfolio that spans both packaging and testing, thereby strengthening its competitiveness as a comprehensive semiconductor materials company.
MKElectron is continuing its rapid growth in the semiconductor materials business this year, driven by the expansion of its Pd Alloy supply base, the growth of its Chinese subsidiary, and increased sales of bonding wire and solder balls due to rising demand for high-performance memory such as AI semiconductors and SOCAMM. In the first quarter of this year, revenue from the semiconductor materials division reached approximately 387 billion won, a 77% increase compared to the same period last year. The company plans to further strengthen the competitiveness of its existing core businesses while continuously expanding new materials businesses, including Pd Alloy, to secure future growth engines.
An MKElectron official emphasized, “We will further strengthen the competitiveness of our existing core businesses, such as bonding wires and solder balls, while simultaneously continuing to promote the localization and global market expansion of next-generation semiconductor materials, including Pd Alloy, to further solidify our position as a comprehensive semiconductor materials company.”