Qualitas Semiconductor (KOSDAQ: 432720) — A Business Analysis Based on Public Filings

Next-generation standards passed half of revenue in H1 2026

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A private analysis of public regulatory filings, written to set out what the filings say so that a reader can follow the sources and either agree or disagree. It was not produced for, or at the request of, any company, client or sponsor.

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Sources and accuracy

Built from public filings (DART), company materials and press reports, as cited in the text.

The author believes these sources are reliable but does not warrant their accuracy or completeness. Errors of transcription or interpretation are possible.

As of 2026-09-15. Filings and results after that date are not reflected, and the author does not undertake to update this document.

Forward-looking statements

Section 7 sets out scenarios for 2026–2029, and other passages describe possible futures. These are the author's estimates built on stated assumptions. They are neither forecasts of what will happen nor company guidance, and actual results may differ materially.

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Translation

An English version of a Korean-language report. Where the two differ, the Korean original prevails.

Currency

Converted at a single rate of USD 1 = KRW 1,400. "KRW bn" means billions of won and "USD m" means millions of US dollars. Figures are rounded, so components may not sum exactly to totals.

Korea context (for readers new to this company)

What it does: licenses verified designs for high-speed interface circuits inside chips to chip developers and is paid at each contract stage; licensing was 92.8% of H1 2026 revenue.

Where it trades: KOSDAQ, Korea's growth-stock board (ticker 432720); listed in October 2023 through the technology special listing track.

Reporting: H1 2026 figures are consolidated and earlier years are separate (parent-only); filings are on DART.

Who it sells to: SoC developers and design houses that make chips through foundries, sold directly; exports were 67.7% of H1 2026 revenue.

Korean-specific terms used below: technology special listing track, administrative issue designation, lock-up.

Currency: KRW figures with fixed-rate USD conversions (see Currency above).

Summary — Chip design companies are paying for this company's interconnect circuit designs to save time and cut the risk of failure. For now, though, the business appears to remain at the "entry fee" stage, the payment made when a design begins.

Question	Key point
Who	Design houses (companies that design chips on behalf of others: VeriSilicon, CoAsia SEMI), SK hynix, and fabless chip companies (companies that design chips without owning a factory: Telechips, a US AI (artificial intelligence) start-up). Most counterparties, however, have not been named
Why	Customers need to bring new chips out quickly, and designs already proven on Samsung's advanced processes lower the risk that a test chip fails. Some customers are also wary of relying on a single large supplier
How much	About USD 430,000 to USD 2.1m per contract, and 12 contracts worth about USD 13.06m over the past 12 months. The company's revenue is roughly 0.2% of the global market (based on 2025 revenue)

Tag	Meaning
FACT	A fact directly supported by an original source, such as the filing text
COMPANY	What the company wrote or stated (not independently verified)
VIEW	Content relayed through press reports, and the author's analysis or estimates

At a glance — what is improving and what weighs on the company

Improving on the business side	Weighing on the financial side
FACT Q2 2026 operating loss of KRW 870m (USD 0.62m) — KRW 6.37bn (USD 4.5m) in the same quarter a year earlier	FACT Convertible bond of KRW 30bn (USD 21.4m) — conversion price reset date 2026-11-10; early redemption can be requested from 2027-09-10
FACT Share of revenue from next-generation standards for servers and chiplets: 52.7% — 18.5% in 2025	FACT 83% of H1 revenue from disclosed contracts came from five contracts signed in September–December 2025
FACT Disclosed contracts in January–September 2026 of about USD 6.87m — about 2.5 times the same period a year earlier	FACT Won-dollar reference rate (the base rate banks use for won-dollar trades) moved from 1,496 to 1,338 won per US dollar (about −10.6%); criteria for administrative issue designation (a Korea Exchange warning status that can lead to delisting if the cause persists) may apply from 2028
FACT Customer concentration eased to 59.3% for the top three (76.5% for one customer in 2023); cash and cash-like assets of KRW 68.48bn (USD 48.9m); clean audit opinion and no litigation	—

1. What does the company sell?

Bottom line — FACT With no factories or inventory, the company licenses verified circuit designs to chip developers and is paid at each contract stage; of H1 2026 revenue of KRW 11.5bn (USD 8.2m), KRW 10.67bn (USD 7.6m) (92.8%) came from licences (rights of use).

1-1. What it sells — blueprints for the "data pathways" inside a chip

FACT What the company sells is semiconductor IP (intellectual property, reusable circuit designs). Inside an SoC (system on chip, a chip that combines many functions), it provides the designs and verification results for ultra-high-speed interface circuits that let data move quickly between chips and between a chip and other components, and its main product is the PHY (physical layer) circuit, the lowest layer that actually sends and receives the electrical signals. (2026 half-year report II-1, II-2)

Share of revenue from next-generation standards for servers and chiplets: 52.7% — 18.5% in 2025

Product family	In plain terms	H1 2026 revenue (share)	2025 revenue (share)	2024 revenue (share)
MIPI (Mobile Industry Processor Interface) IP	A standard linking a chip to cameras and displays in smartphones and similar devices	KRW 4.15bn (USD 3.0m), 36.1%	KRW 2.66bn (USD 1.9m), 49.7%	KRW 2.64bn (USD 1.9m), 43.4%
Display chipset IP	Circuits that carry video data inside TVs and panels	KRW 0.34bn (USD 0.24m), 2.9%	KRW 1.67bn (USD 1.2m), 31.3%	KRW 1.04bn (USD 0.74m), 17.2%
PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express) IP	A standard linking components inside servers and AI equipment	KRW 4.44bn (USD 3.2m), 38.6%	KRW 0.95bn (USD 0.68m), 17.7%	KRW 2.4bn (USD 1.7m), 39.5%
UCIe (Universal Chiplet Interconnect Express) IP	A next-generation standard linking several chip pieces (chiplets) inside one package	KRW 1.62bn (USD 1.2m), 14.1%	KRW 0.04bn (USD 28,571), 0.8%	—
Other	Not described	KRW 0.95bn (USD 0.68m), 8.3%	KRW 0.03bn (USD 21,429), 0.5%	—
Total		KRW 11.5bn (USD 8.2m)	KRW 5.35bn (USD 3.8m)	KRW 6.07bn (USD 4.3m)

(Source: half-year report II-2, status of main products)

FACT All of the 2024 PCIe revenue of KRW 2.4bn (USD 1.7m) is classified as "sub-licensing", so it is hard to compare directly with 2026 PCIe revenue as a figure of the same nature. (2025 annual report II-4)
FACT The company was founded in 2017, listed on KOSDAQ in October 2023 through the technology special listing track (a route that lets pre-profit technology companies list on the strength of a technology assessment), and had 164 employees (2026-06-30). Founder and CEO Duho Kim is the largest shareholder. It holds ISO (International Organization for Standardization) 9001 certification and ISO 26262 certification, the functional-safety standard for vehicles. (half-year report I-1, I-2)

1-2. Who pays, and how

FACT Customers are SoC developers and design houses (companies that design chips on behalf of others) that develop chips through foundries (contract chip-manufacturing plants), and the company sells directly. (half-year report II-4)
FACT Payments are split by stage. The SK hynix contract of 2026-03-18 pays USD 648,000 on signing, 486,000 after delivery of the front-end (FE) design data and 486,000 after delivery of the final design data. Some contracts also carry amounts paid when the customer makes its first test chip (tape-out, the point at which a finished design is sent to the foundry for manufacturing) or starts mass production. (20260318900247 · half-year report XI-1)
COMPANY The company explains that customers license verified IP to avoid the burden of developing interface circuits themselves on advanced processes, and that IP prices rise as processes get finer. It states that it has no raw materials or production facilities, and that prices by product cannot be specified because process and scope differ by contract. (half-year report II-1, II-3, II-7)

Item, KRW bn (USD m)	H1 2026	2025	2024	2023
Licensing	10.67 (7.6)	4.83 (3.5)	5.55 (4.0)	9.84 (7.0)
Design services	0.82 (0.59)	0.53 (0.38)	0.53 (0.38)	0.92 (0.66)
Exports	7.79 (5.6)	2.70 (1.9)	1.86 (1.3)	0.76 (0.54)
Domestic	3.71 (2.6)	2.65 (1.9)	4.22 (3.0)	10.02 (7.2)
Export share	67.7%	50.5%	30.6%	7.0%

(Source: half-year report II-4, revenue overview · 2023 from 2025 annual report II-4)

FACT Concentration in the largest customers shifted from 76.5% for one customer in 2023 to 59.3% for the top three combined in H1 2026 (29.3% · 18.3% · 11.6%), and the customers have not been named. (2025 annual report · half-year report II-4)

1-3. Disclosed contracts — the most direct evidence of order flow

Filing date	Description	Counterparty (where disclosed)	Contract amount (USD)	Contract term	DART filing no.
2025-01-09	4nm (nanometer, the unit for circuit line width) PCIe 6.0 PHY IP licence	VeriSilicon, Inc.	1,100,000 (including 600,000 conditional on mass production)	to 2028-01-08	20250109900171
2025-02-13	IP licence (second instalment of a contract dated 2023-11-20)	A Korea-based semiconductor company	855,000 (balance of 405,000 due within 30 days after tape-out of the customer's product)	to 2033-02-03	20250213900977
2025-09-16	IP licence	A China-based semiconductor company	810,000	to 2026-09-15	20250916900247
2025-10-31	IP licence	Not disclosed	2,100,000	to 2026-10-30	20251031900551
2025-11-04	IP licence	Not disclosed	700,000	to 2026-11-02	20251104900165
2025-12-15	IP licence	Not disclosed	980,000	to 2026-12-11	20251215900881
2025-12-23	IP licence	Not disclosed	1,600,000 (including 160,000 conditional)	to 2026-12-21	20251223900135
2026-01-29	IP licence	Not disclosed	682,000 (including 409,200 conditional on tape-out)	to 2027-01-27	20260129900829
2026-03-18	IP licence	SK hynix	1,620,000	to 2027-03-16	20260318900247
2026-04-01	IP licence	Not disclosed (supply region: Cayman Islands)	850,000	to 2027-03-30	20260401900721
2026-04-20	Design services (amended contract)	SK hynix	1,226,000	to 2026-12-31	20260420900415
2026-07-23	IP licence	Not disclosed	586,000	to 2027-07-21	20260723900280
2026-08-20	IP licence (third instalment of the 2023-11-20 contract)	A Korea-based semiconductor company	430,000	to 2033-02-03	20260820900484
2026-09-10	IP licence	CoAsia SEMI	1,480,000	to 2027-09-09	20260910900191

FACT A simple sum of the 12 contracts from 2025-09-16 to 2026-09-10 comes to about USD 13.06m (including conditional amounts), and most contract terms are one year.
VIEW The 2025-10-31 contract was reported as the company's first UCIe licence, supplying a bundle of UCIe and PCIe 6.0 IP to a US AI chip start-up. (Industry News, 2025-10-31)
FACT Contracts with the same Korean customer continued from the first instalment (2023-11-20) to the second (USD 855,000) and the third (USD 430,000). Repetition is confirmed, but the amount per instalment fell.
FACT Money linked to the chip production stage also sits outside the "conditional amount" column. The USD 405,000 balance of the 2025-02-13 contract is listed as a "fixed amount" but is payable after tape-out of the customer's product, and whether it has been received is not confirmed.
FACT The terms of two 2024 contracts came to light through correction filings in 2025. The contract with China's Chengdu Sichip Semiconductor (2024-05-16) was cut by about 20%, from USD 845,400 to USD 676,300 (reason: expiry of the reservation period and contract amendment, 20250516900154), and the Telechips contract (2024-08-12, USD 1.4m) is structured so that the third payment of USD 140,000 is received after an MPW (multi-project wafer, trial production in which several companies share one wafer) tape-out (20250811900387).
VIEW The two corrections point in opposite directions. One is a precedent showing that a contract amount can shrink after signing; the other shows that payments linked to the chip production stage have been built into several contracts since 2024.
FACT The order backlog is not disclosed, on grounds of trade secrecy. (half-year report II-4)

2. The size of the market and the company's place in it

Bottom line — FACT The wired interface IP market the company belongs to was about USD 2.4bn in 2024, up about 23.5% in a year. VIEW In 2026, the results of several companies appear to confirm, from different angles, that new AI chip design work has increased. The roots of demand are structural, but the company's revenue is around 0.2% of this market and depends heavily on customers' chip development schedules, so the industry's growth rate does not translate directly into the company's growth rate.

Item	Value	Source	Tag
Wired interface IP market	About USD 2.4bn in 2024 (about +23.5% year on year)	IPnest, cited in half-year report II-7	FACT Research-firm figure cited by the company
Forecast for the same market in 2029	About USD 5.4bn	Same	COMPANY
Forecast compound annual growth rate (CAGR) by standard	PCIe 17% · DDR (Double Data Rate) memory interface 17% · Ethernet and chip-to-chip links 21%	Same	COMPANY
Interface share of the IP market	18% in 2017 → 28% in 2023	IPnest research, Electronics Weekly 2025-07-14	VIEW
Another research firm's estimate of the interface IP market	About USD 0.9bn–1.0bn in 2022–2023, growing 7.5–11.3% a year to 2030	Summaries of Global Industry Analysts and Market Glass reports	VIEW

VIEW Research firms define the market differently, so size and growth estimates vary widely. The market figures in this report (USD 2.4bn, 17–21% a year) rest on a single source, IPnest, as cited by the company; on other firms' definitions, growth could look roughly half as fast.

Design demand confirmed by numbers in 2026

The market figures above are for 2024, so results published in 2026 along the chip design chain are set alongside them. VIEW AI chips are made in the order "ordering company → IP and design-tool companies → design houses (design contractors) → foundries", and IP companies collect licence fees one to three years before the chips are sold.

Link in the chain	Company	Confirmed figure	Tag and source
Chip orders (custom AI chips)	Broadcom	AI semiconductor revenue of USD 16.7bn (+221%) in the quarter ended early August 2026; six custom AI chip customers	FACT Earnings release 2026-09-02
IP and design tools	Cadence	IP revenue up more than 40% in Q2 2026	FACT Earnings release 2026-07-27
IP and design tools	Synopsys	IP revenue of USD 474m (+11%) — a return to growth	FACT Earnings release 2026-08-26
IP and design tools	Arm	Data-centre royalties (fees based on the number of customer chips sold) more than doubled in a year	FACT Earnings release 2026-07-29
Design houses (Korea)	Five major firms combined	H1 revenue of about KRW 349.4bn (USD 249.6m) — 70% of full-year 2025 revenue	VIEW ZDNet Korea 2026-08-24 (compiled from DART, Korea's electronic disclosure system run by the Financial Supervisory Service)
Design houses (China)	VeriSilicon — a customer of the company (January 2025 contract)	Record H1 revenue, up 91%; about 90% of new orders this year related to AI computing	FACT DIGITIMES and TechNode 2026-08-18 · Design & Reuse 2026-05-04

COMPANY Cadence explained that its IP revenue growth came from AI and high-performance computing, led in particular by products that ease bottlenecks in data movement and memory bandwidth (the amount of data that can be exchanged at once). The products it named were PCIe, UCIe, HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) and LPDDR6 (Low Power Double Data Rate 6, a next-generation low-power memory standard). VIEW Of these, PCIe and UCIe overlap exactly with the product families that made up 52.7% of Qualitas Semiconductor's H1 revenue.
VIEW Revenue in the chain table includes a large share from mass production. VeriSilicon's revenue growth was reported to have been driven by mass-production services together with custom chip design (DIGITIMES 2026-08-18), and Korean design house ASICLAND was also reported to have been helped by higher mass-production volumes of memory controllers (Nate News 2026-08-30). VIEW Because mass-production revenue comes from chips whose design is already finished, for a company that collects licence fees when design starts it is closer to a result of past design work than to an indicator of what lies ahead.
VIEW These figures are evidence only that "chip design has increased", not that "Qualitas Semiconductor's share has increased"; the company's share can be confirmed only through the contract filings in 1-3.

Three currents moving the market VIEW

Current	What changes	How it reaches the company
Connections become the bottleneck	As AI computing grows, moving data between chips becomes the point that limits performance	PCIe share of revenue 38.6%
Chips are split into pieces	As fine-process costs rise, designs that join chip pieces together increase, and UCIe, which links them, emerges as a new market	UCIe share of revenue 14.1%
Mobile and vehicles	Camera and display links are steady, and vehicles require functional-safety certification	MIPI share of revenue 36.1%, ISO 26262 certification

COMPANY The company is developing a 100G SERDES (serializer/deserializer, a circuit that converts parallel data into a single fast serial stream) PHY for PCIe 7.x and UCIe 3.0, and is pursuing automotive MIPI certification. (half-year report II-6) VIEW Its contract history with Telechips, known as an automotive chip designer, can be read as evidence that it already has customer contact on the vehicle side.
VIEW The other side should be considered too. Even if the market grows, most of the growth could go to large suppliers that sell many standards at once (Section 3), and how quickly chiplet standards will spread into mass-produced chips is not yet confirmed.

Where the company stands in that market

VIEW Converted at 1,400 won per US dollar, 2025 revenue of KRW 5.35bn (USD 3.8m) is around 0.2% of the market (a rough comparison mixing years and exchange rates).
VIEW The industry is forecast to grow 17–21% a year (IPnest basis), yet the company's revenue fell from KRW 10.77bn (USD 7.7m) in 2023 to KRW 5.35bn (USD 3.8m) in 2025. This reads as a sign that the company's revenue is tied more to "the timing of a few large contracts" than to "the size of the market". COMPANY The company gave customer project delays caused by the semiconductor downturn as the reason for 2024's weakness, and US–China technology competition, export controls and Chinese protectionism for 2025. (half-year report XI-4)
FACT OPENEDGES Technology, a Korean IP company with products in the same interconnect layer (memory interface circuits and AI computing circuits), saw H1 2026 revenue fall 24.1%, from KRW 7.4bn (USD 5.3m) to KRW 5.62bn (USD 4.0m). (as cited from OPENEDGES Technology's half-year report) VIEW Standing in a layer with favourable industry conditions does not on its own guarantee revenue; what decides the outcome appears to be "whether a company has products and customers that ride that current".

3. Who it competes with, and what it relies on to hold its ground

Bottom line — VIEW One company holds more than half of the interface IP market. VIEW What Qualitas Semiconductor has now appears to be "qualification to take part in advanced processes" and "customer references", not yet a moat (a defence that keeps competitors from easily encroaching) proven in the numbers.

Competitor	What is confirmed	Tag
Synopsys	Interface IP market share of 55% or more; bundles PHY and controller and supplies all standards and all processes (IPnest research, Electronics Weekly 2025-07-14)	VIEW
Cadence	Market share of around 15%; bundled supply (same source)	VIEW
Alphawave Semi	Market share of around 15% → acquired by Qualcomm at an enterprise value of about USD 2.4bn, completed 2025-12-18	VIEW market share · FACT acquisition
Substitutes	In-house development by large chip companies; process-plus-IP bundles from foundries and design contractors	VIEW

VIEW The combined market share of the top four IP suppliers rose from 72% in 2023 to 75% in 2024. (IPnest research, 36Kr 2025-08-04)
VIEW Synopsys launched a full IP set for PCIe 7.0 in June 2024, and Cadence (December 2025) and Synopsys (June 2026) announced tape-outs of 64Gbps (gigabits per second) UCIe IP, the next speed step for the chiplet interconnect standard. (eeNews Europe 2024-06-10, 2025-12-22 · Synopsys blog 2026-06-30) COMPANY Qualitas Semiconductor has developed PCIe 6.0 and UCIe 2.0 PHYs, and PCIe 7.x and UCIe 3.0 are in development. (half-year report I-2, II-6)
VIEW In terms of standards, this puts the company close to one generation behind the large suppliers. Because PCIe speed roughly doubles with each generation, the company may drop out of the options considered by customers designing the fastest chips.
FACT The PCIe 7.0 specification was released in June 2025, and the standards body stated that it has doubled speed every three years. (PCI-SIG (Peripheral Component Interconnect Special Interest Group, the industry body that sets PCIe standards) announcement, Business Wire 2025-06-11) FACT In January 2025, after Synopsys announced its PCIe 7.0 IP (June 2024), VeriSilicon signed for this company's 4nm PCIe 6.0 IP (1-3). The first UCIe contract (October 2025) preceded the large suppliers' announcements of 64Gbps UCIe tape-outs, and the filing for the SK hynix contract (March 2026) does not state the IP standard.
VIEW The most direct evidence that "the company is being chosen for current-generation demand even while a generation behind" is therefore the VeriSilicon contract. The first UCIe contract was signed before the gap became visible, and the SK hynix contract shows customer trust but is hard to treat as evidence of competitiveness in standards. Because IP is licensed before chips come out, if the gap does work against the company, it is likely to show up first not in current revenue but in contracts one to two years from now, when customers begin designs on next-generation standards. The timing of the company's silicon validation for PCIe 7.x and UCIe 3.0 is the key (9-1 A ⑥).
FACT IP revenue rose by more than 40% at Cadence in Q2 2026 and by 11% at Synopsys in its latest quarter (Section 2). VIEW The wide gap even between the two large suppliers reads as a sign that results diverge depending on whether a company has products that fit the growing demand. This comparison alone cannot show any shift in share between large and small suppliers. However, PCIe and UCIe are standards in which the large suppliers have already released products a generation ahead (bullet above), so small suppliers may find it hard to gain share as fast as demand grows.

Do the barriers show up in the numbers?

Barrier	What is confirmed	Does it show in the numbers?
Track record on advanced processes	COMPANY Silicon validation (building a design into an actual chip and confirming it works) completed on Samsung Foundry 2nm and 4nm; MIPI, PCIe 4.0 and display PHYs supplied for mass production	FACT No record of price increases can be confirmed; 2025 operating margin −457% → not yet visible
Repeat contracts (hard to switch)	FACT The SK hynix filing states "performance of similar contracts in the last three years: yes"; first, second and third contracts with the same Korean customer	Repetition exists, but the amount per instalment fell and revenue swings widely → partly confirmed
Patents and certifications	FACT 48 registered patents and 8 trademarks; ISO 9001 and 26262	No patent income or dispute filings → no link
Foundry ecosystem	COMPANY IP partner in SAFE (Samsung Advanced Foundry Ecosystem), Samsung Foundry's partner programme	Share of revenue through foundries not stated
Scale	VIEW Synopsys 55% or more vs the company at around 0.2%	Not a moat

VIEW The very high apparent gross margin (99.8% as shown by a data provider) reflects the structure of the IP business, not evidence of a moat. Because R&D (research and development) expense is booked within SG&A (selling, general and administrative expenses), the operating margin comes to −457%.

Bull-side argument VIEW	Bear-side argument VIEW
Interface PHYs must be designed separately for each process, so on processes where the company has built a track record, customers find it hard to switch suppliers	For the same reason, development costs recur for every new process and new standard, so R&D expense larger than revenue (446% of 2025 revenue) may keep repeating
If large suppliers are acquired or consolidated, some customers may look for a neutral independent supplier	Large suppliers can sell PHYs, controllers and multiple standards at once, which gives them an edge in price and bundle negotiations
References such as SK hynix, VeriSilicon and Telechips support the case to the next customer	Most counterparties are undisclosed and contracts run at about USD 430,000–2.1m each, so filings do not confirm whether they led to large mass-production revenue
The customer VeriSilicon (H1 revenue +91%) is growing quickly on AI chip design work, which raises the room for further contracts from a reference customer	A growing customer does not necessarily keep licensing IP from the same supplier. VeriSilicon has been ranked among the world's top seven or so IP suppliers by research firm IPnest (VIEW DIGITIMES 2023-04-25), leaving room to switch to its own IP, and the boom among Korean design houses relies heavily on Samsung Foundry volumes (VIEW ZDNet Korea 2026-08-24), so if that one stream falters they may falter together

4. What the numbers say

Bottom line — VIEW Revenue moves with "number of contracts × amount per contract × won-dollar exchange rate", and costs are almost entirely fixed, so quarterly revenue of about KRW 8bn (USD 5.7m) appears to be the line between profit and loss; the improvement in H1 2026 is real, but a large part of it is carried over from contracts bunched in Q4 2025.

4-1. Trends by year and by quarter

Item, KRW bn (USD m)	2023	2024	2025	H1 2025	H1 2026
Revenue	10.77 (7.7)	6.07 (4.3)	5.35 (3.8)	2.80 (2.0)	11.50 (8.2)
Operating loss	−11.19 (−8.0)	−22.69 (−16.2)	−24.47 (−17.5)	−11.41 (−8.2)	−5.61 (−4.0)
Net loss	−8.11 (−5.8)	−19.06 (−13.6)	−23.09 (−16.5)	−10.30 (−7.4)	−5.96 (−4.3)
R&D expense ÷ revenue	—	316%	446%	—	105%

(Source: 2025 annual report III-1 · half-year report II-6, III · H1 2026 is consolidated; earlier periods are separate)

Quarter, KRW bn (USD m)	1Q25	2Q25	3Q25	4Q25	1Q26	2Q26
Revenue	1.89 (1.3)	0.92 (0.66)	0.84 (0.60)	1.71 (1.2)	5.15 (3.7)	6.34 (4.5)
Operating expenses	6.93 (5.0)	7.29 (5.2)	7.41 (5.3)	8.20 (5.9)	9.89 (7.1)	7.21 (5.1)
Operating profit (loss)	−5.04 (−3.6)	−6.37 (−4.5)	−6.57 (−4.7)	−6.49 (−4.6)	−4.74 (−3.4)	−0.87 (−0.62)

(Source: 2025 Q1, half-year and Q3 reports, 2025 annual report, 2026 Q1 and half-year reports — quarterly figures calculated as differences between cumulative reports)

VIEW Quarterly costs moved between KRW 7bn (USD 5.0m) and KRW 9.9bn (USD 7.1m) almost regardless of revenue, so annualised break-even revenue is estimated at about KRW 30bn (USD 21.4m) to KRW 33bn (USD 23.6m).

4-2. Three things that move revenue

Number of contracts — FACT Disclosed contracts rose from three worth about USD 2.765m in January–September 2025 (VeriSilicon USD 1.1m · the Korean customer's second instalment USD 855,000 · the Chinese customer USD 810,000) to seven worth about USD 6.874m in January–September 2026 (1-3). Small contracts below the disclosure threshold cannot be known.
Amount per contract — FACT Disclosed contracts range from USD 430,000 to USD 2.1m each (1-3). VIEW Filings do not confirm any record of the company actually raising prices.
Exchange rate — FACT The reference exchange rate stated in contract filings fell about 10.6%, from 1,496.00 won per US dollar (2026-03-17) to 1,337.90 won (2026-09-10). VIEW With exports at 67.7% of revenue, a 10% stronger won cuts revenue by about 6–7%, and because costs are in won, the loss widens by that much.

4-3. What lies behind the H1 rebound

FACT Of USD 6.717m of H1 revenue recognised from disclosed contracts, USD 5.587m (83%) came from five contracts signed in September–December 2025, and these contracts end in September–December 2026. (progress table in half-year report XI-1)
FACT Over the same period, contract liabilities (money received in advance) fell by KRW 2.97bn (USD 2.1m), from KRW 5.41bn (USD 3.9m) to KRW 2.44bn (USD 1.7m). (half-year report III-3, note 25)
VIEW Taken together, the two facts mean that part of H1 revenue was money already received last year that moved into this year's revenue. This is why the improvement in profit looks larger than the improvement in cash, and there is not yet evidence that revenue of the same size will continue in H2.

Revenue sources visible for H2 VIEW (calculated from the progress table in half-year report XI-1)

Item	Amount (USD)
Portion of fixed amounts under existing disclosed contracts not yet recognised as revenue	About 3.237m (SK hynix licence 1.55m · April 2026 contract 818,000 · SK hynix design services 398,000, and others)
New disclosed contracts in July–September 2026	2.496m
Total	About 5.733m
Separately: conditional amounts (if the chip production stage is reached)	1.169m

VIEW Because the technical-support portion is recognised over the contract term, H2 revenue is estimated at roughly KRW 5bn (USD 3.6m) to KRW 6.5bn (USD 4.6m) plus revenue from undisclosed contracts, and may be smaller than H1 (KRW 11.5bn (USD 8.2m)).
FACT In July–September, after Q2 2026 when Cadence's IP revenue grew more than 40% (Section 2), the company's new disclosed contracts came to USD 2.496m, about 37% of the disclosed contract amount recognised as revenue in H1 (USD 6.717m). VIEW Even allowing for small contracts below the disclosure threshold and the possibility that contracts bunch in Q4 as they did last year, it is not yet confirmed that the industry's favourable conditions are turning into a share for the company. This is a point to be settled by the Q3 report (due by 2026-11-14) and Q4 contract filings.

4-4. Quality of earnings and cash

VIEW Both profit and cash are in deficit. Free cash flow is the cash earned from operations minus investment in equipment and intangible assets.

Year, KRW bn (USD m)	Net profit	Operating cash flow	Free cash flow (approx.)
2023	−8.11 (−5.8)	−11.27 (−8.1)	−13.97 (−10.0)
2024	−19.06 (−13.6)	−17.11 (−12.2)	−18.86 (−13.5)
2025	−23.09 (−16.5)	−16.46 (−11.8)	−16.98 (−12.1)
H1 2026	−5.96 (−4.3)	−4.38 (−3.1)	−4.40 (−3.1)
Cumulative	−56.22 (−40.2)	−49.22 (−35.2)	about −54.20 (−38.7)

(Source: 2024 and 2025 annual reports III · half-year report III-2-4, consolidated cash flow statement)

FACT H1 finance costs of KRW 3.39bn (USD 2.4m) include KRW 1.1bn (USD 0.79m) of convertible bond interest that involves no actual payment and a valuation loss on derivatives (a book loss arising from changes in the value of the rights attached to the convertible bond) of about KRW 2.04bn (USD 1.5m). (half-year report III-3, note 27)
FACT The 2025 audit opinion is unqualified, with no going-concern uncertainty (doubt about whether the company can continue operating). The auditor designated revenue recognition as a key audit matter for three consecutive years, 2023–2025 (in 2023, "occurrence of IP licence revenue"). (2025 annual report V-1) VIEW This is natural for a business whose revenue depends on a few contracts and staged deliveries, but it is a reason to look once more at the "timing" of quarterly revenue.

5. Cash on hand, and the clocks that are ticking

Bottom line — FACT Cash and cash-like assets at the half-year end of about KRW 68.48bn (USD 48.9m) look ample, but VIEW about KRW 30bn (USD 21.4m) of that is matched against a convertible bond whose holders can request early redemption from 2027-09-10, so the net cash that can be used freely is about KRW 25.5bn (USD 18.2m), and over the next 14 months dates on the share-supply and dilution side arrive before good news.

5-1. Liquidity and debt

Item (2026-06-30)	Amount, KRW bn (USD m)	Note
Cash and cash equivalents + short-term financial instruments	58.35 (41.7)	11.05 (7.9) + 47.30 (33.8)
Financial assets at fair value through profit or loss	10.13 (7.2)	Investment assets whose market value changes go straight to profit or loss (current 8.03 (5.7) · non-current 2.10 (1.5)). VIEW The non-current portion appears to include an unlisted stake (Tenstorrent, acquired for KRW 2bn (USD 1.4m)); excluding it, net cash is about KRW 23.4bn (USD 16.7m)
Total cash and cash-like assets	68.48 (48.9)
Short-term borrowings	12.00 (8.6)	2.95–3.14% a year, fully guaranteed by the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund (separate unused overdraft facility of KRW 2bn (USD 1.4m))
Long-term borrowings	1.00 (0.71)	Government interest-subsidised loan, fully guaranteed by the CEO
Convertible bond (face value)	30.00 (21.4)
Net cash (after deducting convertible bond face value)	about 25.48 (18.2)	VIEW

(Source: half-year report III-2-1, consolidated balance sheet · III-3, notes to the consolidated financial statements · III-7, use of IPO proceeds)

FACT Liabilities are KRW 50.98bn (USD 36.4m) and equity is KRW 30.72bn (USD 21.9m) (half-year report III-1). Through an IPO of about KRW 31.5bn (USD 22.5m) in 2023, a rights offering of about KRW 41bn (USD 29.3m) in 2024 (shares issued × issue price, from the capital increase history in half-year report III-7), a convertible bond of KRW 30bn (USD 21.4m) in 2025 and an increase of KRW 7bn (USD 5.0m) in short-term borrowings in 2026 (decision to increase short-term borrowings, 20260420900316), VIEW the company raised about KRW 110bn (USD 78.6m) over three years and covered a cash deficit of about KRW 54bn (USD 38.6m). FACT There is no litigation, no collateral pledged and no guarantees provided for others.

5-2. Key terms of the convertible bond

(Issuance decision 20250902000219)

Item	Terms
Face value and interest	KRW 30bn (USD 21.4m) · coupon 0% · yield to maturity 0% · maturity 2030-09-10
Conversion price	KRW 12,942 (USD 9.24) → 2,318,034 shares on conversion (16.3% of currently listed shares)
Downward conversion price reset	Reset downward to the market price every seven months (next reset date 2026-11-10), floor KRW 11,001 (USD 7.86) → up to 2,727,025 shares on conversion (19.2%)
Early redemption request (investors)	Every three months from 2027-09-10, at 100% of principal (request window is 60 to 30 days before the payment date)
Call option (the right of the company, or a person it designates, to repurchase the bonds early)	Monthly from 2026-09-10 to 2027-09-10, up to 30% of the issue (KRW 9bn (USD 6.4m)) · the largest shareholder and related parties are limited to their shareholding at issuance
Possible increase in share count	VIEW On full conversion plus exercise of the remaining 334,070 stock options, about 16.84m–17.25m shares (+18.7% to +21.6% from now)

5-3. Dates ahead

Date	Event	Why it matters
2026-10-26	Release of the lock-up (a mandatory holding period after listing) on the largest shareholder's 2,909,760 shares (20.51%)	More shares become available for sale
2026-10-30 to 12-21	Contract terms end for four Q4 2025 contracts	Shows whether follow-on contracts continue
Around late October 2026 (expected)	Cadence Q3 results	Whether demand for interconnect IP (PCIe, UCIe, HBM, LPDDR6) stays strong
2026-11-10	Conversion price reset date	Downward reset → more shares on conversion
By 2026-11-14	Q3 report filing	Whether the Q2 improvement continued
Around December 2026 (expected)	Synopsys Q4 results	Whether the large supplier's IP revenue keeps its return to growth
2027-01-27	End of the January 2026 contract (USD 409,200 conditional on tape-out)	Whether it provides the first evidence of reaching the chip production stage
March 2027	2026 annual report	Input for assessing the administrative issue criteria
2027-07-12 to 08-11	First early redemption request window	The size of requests becomes known
2027-09-10	First early redemption payment date	Outflow of up to KRW 30bn (USD 21.4m) (about 44% of cash and cash-like assets)
2027-12-31	End of the grace period for administrative issue designation on continuing losses	Criteria may apply from 2028 (company statement)
2028-01-08	End of the VeriSilicon contract (USD 600,000 conditional on mass production)	Whether it provides evidence of reaching mass production

(Source: convertible bond issuance decision · contract filings · half-year report XI-4 · the Q3 report date is the statutory filing deadline · results dates for overseas companies are expected and not confirmed)

5-4. Administrative issue criteria and how long the cash can last

FACT The criteria are met when, in two or more of the last three years, the pre-tax loss exceeded 50% of equity, and the most recent year was also loss-making; 2025, at 63.6%, already counts as one such year. The company states that, under the grace period for technology-track listings, the criteria do not apply until 2027. (half-year report XI-4)
VIEW On 2026-07-02 the Korea Exchange (KRX) amended its listing rules so that the grace period on revenue and large-loss criteria for special-track listed companies applies only to companies that have filed a "corporate value-up plan". However, an exchange official was reported to have explained that this condition applies to companies applying for preliminary listing review after the amendment and is not applied retroactively to existing special-track companies. (The Financial News and Alpha Kyungje 2026-07-02) FACT Qualitas Semiconductor has not filed a corporate value-up plan.
VIEW If the reports are accurate, the grace period to 2027 stated by the company stands. Conversely, if the interpretation changes and the grace period is shaken, pressure for an equity raise would come sooner and the weight of the lower (bear) path would grow, so it is worth confirming against the original text of the rule's supplementary provisions.
VIEW If the 2026 loss of about KRW 14bn (USD 10.0m) to KRW 16bn (USD 11.4m) divided by year-end equity of about KRW 21bn (USD 15.0m) to KRW 23bn (USD 16.4m) (about 60–75%) exceeds 50%, a 2027 loss alone could trigger the criteria in 2028. That creates an incentive to increase equity through a share issue or conversion before the end of 2027.
VIEW With annual spending of KRW 10bn (USD 7.1m) to KRW 15bn (USD 10.7m), the cash could last three years or more if no early redemption is requested, but if the full KRW 30bn (USD 21.4m) is requested, the runway after that is about one to two years. This company's time is set by two clocks together: the pace of the business and the convertible bond clock.

6. What the people involved are showing

Bottom line — VIEW No money has yet been returned to shareholders, while money raised from shareholders has kept growing. FACT The CEO holds a 20.51% stake and personally guarantees company borrowing.

FACT The largest shareholder, CEO Duho Kim, holds 20.51% and a related party (senior executive vice president) 9.32%, for a combined 29.83% (2026-06-30). There is no history of dividends or share buybacks and no transactions with major shareholders, and in the last 12 months there has been no change of largest shareholder, no litigation and no emphasis-of-matter paragraph from the auditor. (half-year report VII, X, XI)

How accurate were management's forecasts? (FACT half-year report XI-4)

Year	Revenue forecast at IPO	Actual revenue	Shortfall	Operating profit forecast	Actual operating profit
2024	KRW 19.97bn (USD 14.3m)	KRW 6.07bn (USD 4.3m)	69.6%	−KRW 850m (−USD 0.61m)	−KRW 22.69bn (−USD 16.2m)
2025	KRW 38.65bn (USD 27.6m)	KRW 5.35bn (USD 3.8m)	86.2%	KRW 9.87bn (USD 7.0m)	−KRW 24.47bn (−USD 17.5m)
2026	KRW 63.94bn (USD 45.7m)	(H1 KRW 11.5bn (USD 8.2m))	—	KRW 24.27bn (USD 17.3m)	(H1 −KRW 5.61bn (−USD 4.0m))

FACT In its January 2026 contract filing, the company wrote that it "plans to file a correction when payment is received" (translated from the Korean filing). VIEW So there is a channel for confirming receipt of chip production stage payments through correction filings. However, this contract is the only one for which such a plan was stated, so "zero receipt filings" does not necessarily mean "zero receipts".

Putting it all into four boxes — SWOT summary

Gathering the facts from Sections 1–6 into the four SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) boxes gives the following.

	Positive	Negative
Internal	S Strengths ① Track record on advanced processes — silicon validation on Samsung 2nm and 4nm COMPANY ② Next-generation standards turning into revenue — PCIe and UCIe at 52.7% of H1 revenue (18.5% in 2025) FACT ③ Wider customer base — SK hynix, CoAsia SEMI, Telechips; a third contract with the same customer; exports at 67.7% FACT	W Weaknesses ① Continuing losses — 2025 operating loss of KRW 24.47bn (USD 17.5m); R&D expense at 446% of revenue FACT ② Volatile revenue and missed forecasts — 2025 revenue shortfall of 86.2%; 83% of H1 revenue from disclosed contracts came from contracts signed in September–December last year FACT ③ Rising borrowing — convertible bond of KRW 30bn (USD 21.4m); short-term borrowings up KRW 7bn (USD 5.0m) FACT
External	O Opportunities ① Growth of the interface IP market — about USD 2.4bn in 2024, +23.5% year on year FACT ② Commercialisation of chiplet standards — first UCIe licence (October 2025) COMPANY ③ Expansion into vehicles — ISO 26262 certification, contract history with Telechips FACT ④ Growing AI chip design demand — Cadence IP revenue up more than 40%; customer VeriSilicon's H1 revenue +91% FACT	T Threats ① Oligopoly and consolidation among large suppliers — Synopsys 55% or more VIEW; Qualcomm's acquisition of Alphawave FACT ② Geopolitics and exchange rates — US–China controls (company statement); precedent of an about 20% cut to a Chinese customer's contract; won about 10.6% stronger FACT ③ Burdens with fixed dates — conversion price reset on 2026-11-10; early redemption requests possible from 2027-09-10; administrative issue criteria may apply from 2028 FACT ④ Weak smartphones and wavering expectations — Arm lowered its royalty growth expectations (licence revenue rose; the effect on MIPI is indirect) FACT; Philadelphia Semiconductor Index −5.86% (2026-09-14) amid talk of an AI slowdown VIEW

VIEW The strengths converge on "qualification to take part has started turning into revenue", while the weaknesses stem from a single root: "development costs go out first, and revenue comes later and unevenly".
VIEW Whether the opportunities become an actual share for the company depends on whether new contracts carry through to the chip production stage, and the threat lies in the fact that, if that pace is slow, it coincides with burdens that have fixed dates.

7. The future splits into three scenarios

Bottom line — VIEW The trend in which AI and chiplets raise the value of "connections between chips" is a favourable change in industry conditions, but how fast that change reaches profit and loss depends on whether contracts carry through to customers' chip production stage.

VIEW The three paths are divided by the product of "core-business moat × change in the environment". If either factor approaches zero, the whole product shrinks.

	Upper path · Bull	Middle path · Base	Lower path · Bear
What was multiplied	Moat intact × favourable change in industry conditions	Moat intact × delayed change in industry conditions	Weakened moat, or headwinds
What would happen	Customer chips move to tape-out and mass production, bringing in conditional amounts and royalties, and repeat UCIe and PCIe 6.0 contracts increase every year. Won-dollar rate stable in the 1,300 won range	Contracts grow gently from this year's level (USD 7m–10m a year), but chip production stage payments are rare. Quarterly revenue swings between KRW 4bn (USD 2.9m) and KRW 8bn (USD 5.7m)	The Q4 2025-style bunching of contracts does not recur. New contracts decline because of a strong won, US–China controls and bundled supply from large suppliers, and staff departures delay schedules
Revenue, KRW bn (USD m), 2026E→2029E	19.00 (13.6) → 30.00 (21.4) → 43.00 (30.7) → 56.00 (40.0)	17.00 (12.1) → 21.00 (15.0) → 26.00 (18.6) → 32.00 (22.9)	15.00 (10.7) → 11.00 (7.9) → 12.00 (8.6) → 13.00 (9.3)
Profit	Turns profitable in H2 2027; 2029E operating margin 25% (KRW 14bn (USD 10.0m))	2029E near break-even (0–5%)	Losses of −KRW 15bn (−USD 10.7m) or more a year even after cost cuts
Convertible bond	Converted (2,727,025 shares), no redemption	Early redemption of KRW 30bn (USD 21.4m) in September 2027 + share issue of KRW 25bn (USD 17.9m)	Early redemption of KRW 30bn (USD 21.4m) + liquidity shortfall → discounted share issue of KRW 35bn (USD 25.0m); concern over the 2028 administrative issue criteria
Net cash at end-2028	KRW 47.48bn (USD 33.9m) (cash burn of about KRW 8bn (USD 5.7m))	KRW 24.48bn (USD 17.5m) (burn of about KRW 26bn (USD 18.6m))	KRW 16.48bn (USD 11.8m) (burn of about KRW 44bn (USD 31.4m))
Probability (subjective)	20%	50%	30%
Signals to confirm	Confirmed receipt of conditional amounts and tape-out-linked payments · quarterly operating profit (loss) · R&D expense ÷ revenue below 100%	Cumulative profit (loss) in the Q3 report · filings for additional borrowing or share issues · intervals between contract filings	Repeated quarterly revenue below KRW 2bn (USD 1.4m) · six-month gap in contract filings · declining current assets · early redemption requests

Why the probabilities are set this way VIEW

Upper 20% — VIEW The Q2 improvement and larger contract sizes are facts, but there is still no filing confirming receipt of chip production stage payments, and the strong won is a headwind. On the other hand, three contracts with the same customer, domestic customers such as Telechips, and tape-out-linked payments built into several contracts since 2024 are evidence that a fair number of contracts could move to the production stage. Conditional amounts and tape-out-linked payments are the most direct evidence that "a design went into an actual chip", so if these are confirmed, this probability should be revisited first. On the industry side, supporting points are the growth of AI chip design work at customer VeriSilicon, and the overlap between the company's PCIe and UCIe and the drivers of Cadence's IP revenue growth (Sections 2 and 3).
Middle 50% — VIEW The remaining fixed amounts of USD 3.24m and new contracts of USD 2.5m (about USD 5.7m in total, 4-3) provide a minimum floor for revenue. Because design contracts are signed one to three years ahead of chip mass production, current design demand could support contract flow in 2026–2027, but turning that into mass-production royalties is two to three years away, which fits the middle path picture of "contracts increase but production stage payments are rare".
Lower 30% — VIEW The grounds are two consecutive years of revenue decline, the fact that 83% of H1 revenue from disclosed contracts came from contracts signed in September–December last year (4-3), and exposure to Chinese customers. Added to these are the precedent of a Chinese customer's contract shrinking about 20% after signing and the fall in repeat contract amounts from USD 855,000 to USD 430,000 (1-3). There are industry-side risks too. Revenue at OPENEDGES Technology, in the same interconnect layer, fell (Section 2), and Arm lowered its royalty growth expectations as smartphone sales look set to fall by double digits; if weak sales persist, development of new smartphone chips could be delayed, weighing on MIPI (36.1% of revenue) contracts. However, Arm's licence revenue rose 23% in the same quarter, and the company's MIPI revenue of KRW 4.15bn (USD 3.0m) in H1 already exceeded the full-year 2025 figure (KRW 2.66bn (USD 1.9m)), so the effect is indirect.
VIEW Revenue on the lower path (2027–2029: KRW 11bn (USD 7.9m) to KRW 13bn (USD 9.3m)) is set higher than actual revenue in 2024–2025 (KRW 5.35bn (USD 3.8m) to KRW 6.07bn (USD 4.3m)), so if revenue fell all the way back to that level, the outcome would be worse than the table shows.

Where does the business stand now? — VIEW The business appears to have moved from 2025 (revenue KRW 5.35bn (USD 3.8m), operating loss KRW 24.47bn (USD 17.5m)), the starting point of the lower path, to a stage in H1 2026 where it showed its first signals between the middle and upper paths. Even so, it is too early to settle on a path from one quarter's improvement alone.

Revenue on the lower path (2027–2029: KRW 11bn (USD 7.9m) to KRW 13bn (USD 9.3m)) is set higher than actual revenue in 2024–2025 (KRW 5.35bn (USD 3.8m) to KRW 6.07bn (USD 4.3m)), so if revenue fell all the way back to that level, the outcome would be worse than the table shows.

8. The strongest case from the other side

Bottom line — VIEW The biggest risks are a gap in new orders and early redemption of the convertible bond, and each amplifies the other. Of the other side's arguments, those about the capital structure clock, the exchange rate and the credibility of forecasts are hard to rebut.

What the other side would say	Facts that could rebut it	Result
"The Q2 improvement is last year's Q4 contracts carried over in the accounts. New contracts in July–September are only 37% of the amount recognised in H1"	FACT Disclosed contracts in January–September this year are about 2.5 times last year's, and about USD 5.7m of remaining fixed amounts plus new contracts is left	Partly rebutted — the flow has improved, but the possibility of "H2 < H1" remains
"An 11% fall in the exchange rate is no different from a price cut for a company that sells in dollars"	No facts to rebut it	Not rebutted
"Lock-up release, conversion price cuts, redemption requests, administrative issue criteria — the only path left is a share issue"	FACT Cash and cash-like assets of KRW 68.48bn (USD 48.9m); up to KRW 9bn (USD 6.4m) can be settled early through the call option	Not rebutted — it can gain time but cannot stop the clock
"At the IPO they said 2025 revenue would be KRW 38.6bn (USD 27.6m), and it was KRW 5.3bn (USD 3.8m)"	No facts to rebut it	Not rebutted
"It is fighting a company with 55% market share using small one-year licences. There is no evidence of mass-production royalties"	FACT Repeat contract with SK hynix, first → second → third contracts with the same customer, references from VeriSilicon, CoAsia SEMI and Telechips. Even after Synopsys announced its PCIe 7.0 IP (VIEW 2024-06), VeriSilicon signed for this company's PCIe 6.0 IP (FACT 2025-01, Section 3)	Partly rebutted — repeat customers exist, but there is no evidence of royalties
"The benefits of changing AI industry conditions go to the large suppliers. Cadence's IP revenue rose more than 40%, while this company's share is around 0.2% of the market"	FACT Customer VeriSilicon's H1 revenue +91%; the company's PCIe and UCIe share of revenue 52.7% (18.5% in 2025)	Partly rebutted — the company does stand in a layer with strong demand, but whether a share flows to it can be confirmed only by whether one-year contracts continue
"If AI expectations break, new chip design is the first thing to be cut. The sharp falls in KOSDAQ and KOSPI in July and the −5.86% semiconductor index in September are the signal"	VIEW Contracts already signed remain as revenue for a while. But this company relies mainly on one-year licences, so that cushion is only about the remaining fixed amounts plus July–September new contracts (about USD 5.7m, 4-3)	Partly rebutted — the cushion is short, so if expectations break and new contracts fall, it could show in revenue within a few quarters, a timing that overlaps with the September 2027 early redemption clock

9. Assessment

9-1. Evidence that would change the view

A. Evidence on the bull side

#	Evidence
①	Confirmed receipt of conditional amounts (VeriSilicon USD 600,000 · January 2026 contract USD 409,200 · December 2025 contract USD 160,000) or tape-out-linked payments (balance of the February 2025 contract USD 405,000 · Telechips third payment USD 140,000)
②	Q3 revenue of KRW 6bn (USD 4.3m) or more + operating loss within KRW 1bn (USD 0.71m)
③	Smaller amount subject to early redemption through exercise of the call option (especially if the company repurchases and cancels the bonds)
④	Disclosed contracts of USD 8m or more in H1 2027
⑤	No sales by the largest shareholder after the lock-up release
⑥	Company announcement of completed silicon validation for PCIe 7.x (100G SERDES PHY) and UCIe 3.0 — a sign that the standards gap with large suppliers is narrowing (Section 3)

B. Evidence on the bear side — VIEW If even one appears, the premise of "a recurring flow of orders" becomes hard to sustain.

#	Evidence	Where to check
①	Q3 revenue below KRW 3bn (USD 2.1m), or cumulative Q1–Q3 revenue below KRW 15bn (USD 10.7m)	Q3 report (by 2026-11-14)
②	Zero single sales/supply contract filings by 2027-03-10	Filing list
③	Decision on a rights offering, or to issue a new convertible bond or bond with warrants	Material-event report
④	No confirmed receipt of the tape-out-conditional amount (USD 409,200) under the January 2026 contract by 2027-01-27	Correction filing for that contract
⑤	First early redemption requests in 2027 of KRW 10bn (USD 7.1m) or more	Bond balance in the 2027 Q3 report

9-2. Two final questions

For success — VIEW Receipt of chip production stage payments must be confirmed, and quarterly revenue must exceed KRW 8bn (USD 5.7m) during 2027 and reach an operating profit.
If it fails — VIEW The path would be one where the Q4-style bunching of contracts does not recur, the strong won widens losses, and early redemption requests in September 2027 coincide with the 2028 administrative issue criteria, leading to a discounted share issue.

Appendix A. Data coverage and sources

Data coverage — The full DART filing list from 2025-01-01 to 2026-09-16 was reviewed. The texts of periodic reports, the convertible bond issuance decision, contract filings and correction filings were read directly. There were no new filings between the 2026-09-15 correction filing and 2026-09-16. Original brokerage reports, company IR (investor relations) materials and the text of the Q1 report could not be obtained.

DART filings (DART filing no.)

Periodic reports: 2026 half-year 20260813000723 · 2026 Q1 20260515000806 · 2025 annual 20260319000931 · 2025 Q3 20251114001794 · submission of audit report 20260319900964
Convertible bond: issuance decision 20250902000219 · issuance result 20250910900302 / decision to increase short-term borrowings 20260420900316
Single sales/supply contracts: 20250109900171 · 20250213900977 · 20250916900247 · 20251031900551 · 20251104900165 · 20251215900881 · 20251223900135 · 20260129900829 · 20260318900247 · 20260401900721 · 20260420900415 · 20260723900280 · 20260820900484 · 20260910900191
Contract correction filings: 20250516900154 · 20250811900387 · 20260225901604 · 20260330901113 · 20260915900295

Organisations and press reports

IPnest research — Electronics Weekly 2025-07-14 (https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/interface-ip-grew23-5-in-2025-to-reach-5-4bn-by-2029-2025-07/) · 36Kr 2025-08-04 (https://eu.36kr.com/en/p/3406587305938560)
Qualcomm's acquisition of Alphawave Semi announced 2025-06-09 · completed 2025-12-18 (AJ Bell · Paul, Weiss)
Industry News 2025-10-31 (report on the first UCIe contract · https://www.industrynews.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=73646)
Qualitas Semiconductor website, company introduction (SAFE IP partner)
Reports on the Korea Exchange listing rule amendment (2026-07-02) — The Financial News (https://www.fnnews.com/news/202607021744081070) · Alpha Kyungje (https://kr.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/article-2003545) · EBN (https://www.ebn.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=1714818) · Weekly Hankook (https://weekly.hankooki.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=7172551)
Competitor products — eeNews Europe 2024-06-10 (Synopsys PCIe 7.0 · https://www.eenewseurope.com/en/synopsys-launches-pcie-7-0-end-to-end-ip/) · 2025-12-22 (Cadence 64G UCIe · https://www.eenewseurope.com/en/cadence-tapes-out-ucie-ip-at-64gbps-on-tsmc-n3p/) · Synopsys blog 2026-06-30 (https://www.synopsys.com/blogs/chip-design/ucie-performance-40g-multi-die-systems.html)
Specification release — PCI-SIG announcement of the PCIe 7.0 specification release (Business Wire 2025-06-11 · Yahoo Finance version https://finance.yahoo.com/news/pci-sig-releases-pcie-7-183000437.html)
Other market research — Global Industry Analysts · Market Glass (summaries of interface IP reports)

Industry conditions

Overseas company results — Broadcom 2026-09-02 · Synopsys 2026-08-26 · Cadence 2026-07-27 (call transcripts, Yahoo Finance · Investing.com) · Arm 2026-07-29 (shareholder letter · call transcript)
VeriSilicon — DIGITIMES 2026-08-18 (https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20260818VL216/verisilicon-revenue-2026-loss-ip.html) · TechNode 2026-08-18 (https://technode.com/2026/08/18/verisilicon-reports-91-first-half-revenue-growth-as-ai-orders-reach-90/) · Design & Reuse 2026-05-04 (https://www.design-reuse.com/news/202530457-surge-in-custom-chip-business-propels-verisilicon-s-q1-revenue-to-double-with-new-orders-skyrocketing-to-8-2-billion-yuan-increased-r-d-investment-leads-to-wider-net-loss-earnings-insight/)
Korean design houses — ZDNet Korea 2026-08-24 (https://zdnet.co.kr/view/?no=20260824152106)
Market falls — Jeonguk Simin-ui Sori 2026-08-03 (KOSPI and KOSDAQ monthly figures for July) · Herald Business 2026-07-29 · Aju Business Daily · CBC News 2026-09-15
Mass-production revenue and the nature of VeriSilicon — DIGITIMES 2026-08-18 (link above) · DIGITIMES 2023-04-25 (IPnest ranking of IP suppliers · https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20230425VL206/ic-design-distribution-ip-verisilicon.html) · Nate News 2026-08-30 (ASICLAND · link not confirmed)
Arm licence revenue and smartphone sales outlook — Motley Fool call transcript 2026-08-07 · Investing.com 2026-07-29
Peer company — OPENEDGES Technology half-year report
Cross-check against original data — figures for Broadcom, Synopsys, Cadence, Arm and VeriSilicon, and the combined figure for the five design houses, were checked against earnings releases and original articles.

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The Perception Edge

Qualitas Semiconductor (KOSDAQ: 432720) — Next-generation standards passed half of revenue in H1 2026