Advanced packaging in focus as SEMICON Taiwan kicks off Wednesday

Taipei, Sept. 7 (CNA) With the SEMICON Taiwan 2025 trade show set to kick off Wednesday, market attention has turned to the mass production of advanced packaging technologies and capacity expansion in Taiwan and the United States.

With traditional scaling reaching physical limits, heterogeneous integration and packaging technologies have emerged as key solutions.

Surging demand for artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance computing (HPC) and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips has put technologies such as chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS), integrated fan-out (InFO), system on integrated chips (SoIC), 3D IC and fan-out panel-level packaging (FOPLP) at the center of semiconductor innovation, making them a major focus at this year's trade show, according to industry experts.

Chipmakers are ramping up capacity to meet this demand, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), which is aggressively expanding packaging capacity in both Taiwan and the U.S., industry sources said.

The company already operates five advanced packaging facilities in Taiwan and is planning four more, while in the U.S. it is partnering with Amkor to build new CoWoS and InFO capacity in Arizona as part of its record US$165 billion global investment plan.

TSMC Chairman and CEO C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said demand for AI chips remains strong, and the company is working to narrow the gap between tight supply of CoWoS advanced packaging and robust market demand.

Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE) Holding Co. is likewise ramping up CoWoS lines in Kaohsiung and through subsidiary SPIL in central Taiwan, and has pledged further investment through 2026.

ASE Chief Operating Officer Tien Wu (吳田玉) said demand for advanced packaging is only just beginning, and the company plans to continue increasing investment in the segment through 2026.

Market estimates suggest TSMC's monthly CoWoS output will double to 70,000 wafers by year-end and exceed 90,000 by the end of 2026, according to industry sources.

On the testing side, King Yuan Electronics is raising capital expenditure to a record NT$37 billion (US$1.21 billion) for AI chip testing.

Taiwanese firms are also investing in FOPLP, with Innolux, Powertech, ASE, Hiwin and Utechzone expanding operations. Global players such as NXP, STMicroelectronics, AMD and Qualcomm are adopting panel-level packaging for power management and RF chips, with potential AI applications ahead, industry sources said.

SEMICON Taiwan 2025 will run from Sept. 10-12 at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, Hall 1 and 2.