ASE to buy plant in Kaohsiung to expand advanced IC assembly capacity

Taipei, Aug. 12 (CNA) Taiwan-based IC packaging and testing services provider ASE Technology Holding Co. has agreed to buy a plant in Kaohsiung from radio frequency chip maker WIN Semiconductors Corp. to expand its advanced IC assembly capacity.

To meet rising demand for high-end IC assembly services amid the artificial intelligence boom, ASE Technology said it will spend NT$6.5 billion (US$217 million) to buy the plant and related facilities in Kaohsiung's Lujhu District inside the Southern Taiwan Science Park.

Win Semiconductor said the sale of the plant and equipment to ASE Technology was aimed at optimizing its assets and boosting its operating capital and would earn it about NT$1.94 billion.

In recent years, ASE Technology has invested aggressively in advanced IC assembly capacity, including an investment of US$200 million to build its first large-sized fan-out panel-level packaging (FOPLP) services production line in Kaohsiung.

ASE Technology also broke ground in October 2024 on a new plant in Kaohsiung to expand its 3D chip on wafer on substrate (CoWoS) IC packaging services, with construction scheduled to be completed in 2026.

In August 2024, it bought a plant from affiliate Hung Ching Development & Construction Co. to develop wafer level package and flip chip package technologies in Kaohsiung, and in December 2023, it rented a plant from ASE Test Inc., another affiliate, in Kaohsiung to expand its IC assembly capacity.

Analysts said the purchase of Win Semiconductor's plant will help ASE Technology cement its status as the world's largest IC packaging and testing service firm.

Meanwhile, ASE Technology said it posted NT$51.54 billion in consolidated sales in July, up 4.1 percent from a month earlier but down 0.1 percent from a year earlier.

In U.S. dollar terms, its consolidated sales totaled US$1.769 billion for the month, up 6.5 percent from a month earlier and up 11.2 percent from a year earlier.

Citing the data, ASE Technology said it continued to feel the negative impact of a stronger Taiwan dollar against the U.S. dollar.

The company said, however, that its operations benefited from solid global demand for AI applications and high performance computing (HPC) devices despite the impact of the foreign exchange rate.

In the first seven months of 2025, ASE Technology's consolidated sales rose 7.95 percent from a year earlier to NT$350.45 billion.

At an investor conference held at the end of July, ASE Technology forecast its sales for the third quarter will grow 12 percent to 14 percent from the second quarter in U.S. dollar terms and 9 percent to 11 percent in Taiwan dollar terms.

The forecast was made based on a foreign exchange rate of NT$29.2 against the U.S. dollar, according to the company.