Global chip testers and packagers are to resume revenue growth at an annual pace of 2.2 percent this year, with the fastest growth from Chinese players such as Jiangsu Changjiang Electronics Technology Co (JCET, 長江科技), TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday.
The Taipei-based researcher attributed the industry’s pickup to an increase of semiconductor content in mobile devices and a rising demand for advanced packing services.
Overall, global chip testers and packagers are to expand to US$51.73 billion this year, TrendForce forecast.
Chinese companies are likely to be among the biggest beneficiaries from this trend, as they are shifting their focus to heavily invest on developing advanced packaging technologies, such as integrated fan-out packaging and system in package technologies, because their overseas acquisitions have been thwarted, the researcher said.
“Because of the progress in both technology development and mergers and acquisitions, Chinese service providers such as JCET ... are projected to have revenue performance this year that rises above the industry’s average with double-digit growth rates,” TrendForce said.
JCET, No. 3 worldwide in the outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) industry, is expected to see revenue rise 12.5 percent year-over-year to US$3.23 billion this year, TrendForce’s forecast said.
The growth will help JCET gain a bigger market share of 12.5 percent this year, compared with last year’s 11 percent, TrendForce’s projection said.
China’s Tianshui Huatian Technology Co (TSHT, 天水華天) and Tongfu Microelectronics Co (TFME, 通富微電) are likely to register 28.3 percent and 32 percent annual growth in revenue this year to US$1.06 billion and US$910 million, respectively, TrendForce predicted.
TSHT and TFME ranked No. 6 and No. 7 in the global OSAT market, with market shares of 3.1 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively.
Additionally, China’s IC testing and packaging services providers are to see a further boost in revenue from China as more Chinese fabs are to ramp up production next year, TrendForce said.
China’s 12-inch wafer capacity is to soar 1.8 times to 162,000 wafers per month by the end of next year, TrendForce said.
The expansion “will inject sizable demand into the domestic testing and packaging market,” TrendForce said.
Taiwanese memory chip tester and packager Powertech Technology Inc (PTI, 力成科技) is likely to see revenue jump 26.3 percent year-over-year to US$1.89 billion this year, backed by increasing demand from applications in high-performance computing and high-density storage products, the researcher said.
In addition to defending its No. 5 position, PTI is benefiting from its partnerships with US memory chipmaker Micron Technology Inc, the researcher said.
Taiwan’s Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (ASE, 日月光半導體) has defended its top position with a market share of 19.2 percent this year, up from 18.7 percent last year. ASE’s revenue is likely to grow 6.4 percent year-over-year to US$5.21 billion this year, TrendForce said.
Amkor Technology Inc seized the No. 2 spot, with revenue up 4.3 percent to US$4.06 billion this year, the researcher said, adding that Amkor’s market share is expected to inch up from 14.9 percent last year to 15 percent this year.
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