Innometry

Innometry was founded in 2008 and listed on KOSDAQ in 2018 as a specialized manufacturer of X-ray and CT-based non-destructive inspection equipment.

Its core products are X-ray and 3D-CT inspection solutions that detect electrode alignment and internal defects such as foreign matter and voids in real time within EV secondary batteries, supplied to domestic and overseas battery makers.

The company operates four overseas subsidiaries in China, Hungary, and the United States, giving it a global production and sales footprint. Key customers include Korea's three major battery makers and global cell makers such as China's BYD and BAK, and the company previously supplied equipment to Northvolt.

More recently, the company has been diversifying its portfolio into semiconductor packaging and foldable smartphone inspection.

In October 2025, it entered the semiconductor glass substrate market by supplying Through Glass Via (TGV) inspection equipment for the first time to glass processing firm JWMT and metal surface treatment firm EXTOL, later expanding supply to TGV value-chain firms such as Anycasting.

In May 2026, it signed an MOU with backend semiconductor laser equipment maker LaserSSEL for joint development of inspection solutions for CPO (co-packaged optics) and other advanced packaging components.

While Innometry holds an established position in secondary battery non-destructive inspection built on a long supply track record, the newer glass substrate, HBM, and CPO businesses remain at an early market-formation stage where the competitive landscape has not yet clearly settled.

2025 consolidated revenue came to KRW 38.57 billion, down from KRW 53.0 billion in 2024, and the decline extends a two-year drop from the 2023 peak of KRW 83.78 billion.

The operating loss narrowed to KRW 5.70 billion in 2025 from KRW 7.23 billion in 2024, yet net loss attributable to owners widened to KRW 4.28 billion from KRW 1.47 billion, suggesting that profit-and-loss swing factors persisted even after the one-off Northvolt-related costs booked in 2024.

On a quarterly basis, the company posted an operating profit of KRW 989 million in Q2 2025, then swung to an operating loss of KRW 273 million in Q3 and a large KRW 4.23 billion operating loss in Q4, showing wide swings.

In Q1 2026, revenue jumped to KRW 17.52 billion, with operating profit of KRW 246 million and net profit attributable to owners of KRW 1.31 billion, marking a return to profitability, but Q2 2026 revenue fell to KRW 14.63 billion with an operating loss of KRW 2.16 billion and a net loss of KRW 2.04 billion, reverting to the red.

Over the trailing four quarters (Q3 2025 through Q2 2026), combined revenue was about KRW 51.4 billion, while the net loss attributable to owners was about KRW 3.57 billion, indicating that profitability has yet to stabilize even on an annualized basis.

This volatility is tied to the project-based revenue recognition structure typical of order-driven industries, where recognition timing varies quarter to quarter depending on project progress.

The clear contrast between the profitable 2022-2023 period and the loss-making 2024-2025 period illustrates how the EV demand chasm and resulting delays in customer capital spending directly affected results.

Innometry's core end market, EV secondary batteries, went through a demand chasm in 2024-2025, but assessments suggest a gradual recovery began in 2026 as major cell makers resumed investment centered on ESS and various battery form factors.

In particular, as AI data center expansion and renewable energy adoption increase demand for ESS battery capacity expansion, demand for X-ray and CT inspection equipment that verifies production defects non-destructively is also expected to grow in tandem.

At the same time, in the AI semiconductor industry, glass substrate (TGV) technology is regarded as a next-generation packaging technology with low signal loss and advantages for large substrate applications, with the related supply chain still in an early formation stage.

HBM and CPO advanced packaging areas are also seen as having potential for increased inspection and quality-control demand driven by growing AI semiconductor demand.

Innometry is pursuing a strategy of sequentially applying its proven non-destructive inspection technology from the battery segment to the glass substrate, HBM, and CPO areas, extending existing technological assets into new businesses.

However, the glass substrate, HBM, and CPO markets remain at an early stage where standardized processes and representative equipment specifications have not yet been established, leaving the field open to entry by various equipment makers.

Citing that equipment decisions for battery production lines typically follow months to over a year of prior discussion, the company continues supply discussions for additional ESS X-ray inspection equipment with major customers including those in North America, and expects full-year order intake in 2026 to exceed the prior year.

The company expects order volume to expand significantly in the second half compared to the first half, as major projects and equipment supply in Europe and the Americas ramp up.

Indeed, inspection equipment for a mass-production line of 46-phi cylindrical batteries has been shipped, and projects for North American ESS and European EV prismatic battery inspection equipment are proceeding simultaneously.

On the new-business front, glass substrate (TGV) inspection equipment has been supplied to multiple customers this year, building a track record, and the company states it is in discussions with global semiconductor makers on supplying equipment for HBM and other advanced packaging areas.

In the CPO area, the company has begun joint development with LaserSSEL, and it is carrying out a three-year government-backed research project with UCL in the UK, running from July 2026 to June 2029, to jointly develop glass substrate micro-crack detection technology.

The company states it is conducting large-scale hiring, including R&D personnel, in response to order and new-business expansion. That said, the timing and scale at which these discussion-stage projects will convert into actual revenue remain unconfirmed.