Samsung, SK hynix and Micron pursue a common charging standard for fab robots

The three memory giants and SEMI want robots from different vendors to share batteries, chargers and data inside chip plants The world’s three biggest memory chipmakers have found something they can agree on. It isn’t pricing or market share. It’s how robots plug in. Samsung Electronics (005930.KS), SK hynix (000660.KS) and Micron are working on a shared charging standard for the mobile robots that roam semiconductor fabrication plants. The goal is to replace a messy patchwork of vendor-specific batteries and charging stations with one common rulebook. What the chipmakers are trying to fix The effort was reported by The Seoul Economic Daily on November 8. According to the report, working-level staff from the three companies have set up an early-stage consultative body to hash out the details. SEMI, the global semiconductor equipment and materials association, is also part of the discussions. That matters because industry standards tend to stick better when a neutral trade body is involved, rather than one company dictating terms to the rest. The scope is broad. The group is looking at harmonizing battery specifications, how charging stations communicate, the charging equipment itse...