ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控), the world’s largest provider of outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) services, yesterday launched a new advanced manufacturing facility in Penang, Malaysia, aiming to meet growing demand for emerging technologies such as generative artificial intelligence (AI) applications.
The US$300 million facility is a critical step in expanding ASE’s global footprint, offering an alternative for customers from the US, Europe, Japan, South Korea and China to assemble and test chips outside of Taiwan amid efforts to diversify supply chains.
The plant, the company’s fifth in Malaysia, is part of a strategic expansion plan that would more than triple the floor space of ASE Malaysia to approximately 315,870m2, from 92.903m2, it said in a statement.
Photo: CNA
“Southeast Asia is increasingly becoming an important base for semiconductors, given its growing digital economy propelling demand for advanced chips and its shift toward design and chip manufacturing in the past few years,” ASE chief executive officer Tien Wu (吳田玉) said in the statement.
“With Malaysia solidifying its position as a regional semiconductor hub, we see our expanded facility playing an even greater role across the global semiconductor value chain and contributing to the country’s economic growth,” Wu said.
“ASE remains committed to being a driving force for the development of the local and regional semiconductor industry, while continuing to meet and exceed the needs and expectations of our customers,” he said.
A majority of ASE Malaysia’s capacity is used to make image sensors and power management chips for vehicles and industrial devices, while the new plant would build new image sensors for industrial or humanoid robots, the company said.
At home, ASE also plans to make new investments totaling US$200 million to build its first large-size panel-level packaging facility in Kaohsiung, Wu said.
The company is to start a pilot run of the production line in the third quarter this year, he said.
ASE’s capacity expansion at home and overseas is based on its positive demand forecast, it said.
ASE on Monday gave a favorable forecast for its business, riding on the global semiconductor industry’s growth trajectory.
By 2032, total semiconductor revenue is to reach US$1 trillion, with OSAT manufacturers playing a critical role in the global electronics supply chain, Wu said.
Chip packaging and testing service providers are to make up about 20 percent of global semiconductor revenue, an increase from 15 percent over the past decades, he said.
As chips become more advanced and complicated, more materials are required to package them, he said.
For the packaging and testing segment, ASE expects global revenue would surge to US$180 billion in 2029 from US$60 billion in 2019, he said.
Half of the market, or US$90 billion, would be for OSAT in 2029, presenting an enormous opportunity for ASE, which holds 20 to 30 percent of the world’s OSAT market, he added.
After several years flying high as Asia’s best Nvidia Corp proxy, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is increasingly vying with other artificial intelligence (AI) stocks for investor attention. Stock traders are chasing a wider array of beneficiaries as mainstream usage of AI creates demand for hardware beyond the most-advanced chips TSMC makes for Nvidia. Subthemes from the deepening memory crunch to advances in robotics are also luring bids. At the same time, investment caps on single stocks are pushing funds to diversify, while retail investors long familiar with TSMC through its US depositary receipts are being offered a broader set of
UNDER MICROSCOPE: Taiwan detained three people who allegedly conspired to buy servers in Taiwan and export them using fraudulent documentation, prosecutors said Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday urged Super Micro Computer Inc to tighten up on compliance after Taiwan detained three people this week for allegedly making fraudulent declarations about artificial intelligence (AI) servers made by its US partner. The development marked the nation’s first crackdown on semiconductor smuggling, which grew after the US slapped restrictions on exports of high-end chips such as Nvidia AI accelerators to China. Nvidia is “rigorous” in explaining regulations to all of its partners, Huang told reporters after arriving in Taipei. “Ultimately Super Micro has to run their own company,” he said in response to
Netherlands-based semiconductor equipment supplier ASML Holding NV yesterday said that it is planning to hire an additional 1,000 people in Taiwan this year in response to growing demand from clients. ASML had previously planned to recruit 600 people this year, but that the plan has been adjusted upward, ASML vice president and ASML Taiwan general manager Grace Wang (汪佳慧) told reporters. ASML has a workforce of more than 4,500 in Taiwan, accounting for about 10 percent of its global total, Wang said. This year’s recruitment campaign would focus on adding people in the customer support, manufacturing and supply chain domains to assist ASML
TECH RELIANCE: Growth is increasingly reflecting an unequal K-shaped distribution, where technology sectors outperform and other industries struggle, an expert said Standard Chartered Bank has significantly raised its forecast for Taiwan’s economic growth to 9.5 percent this year, up from 7.6 percent previously, citing surging artificial intelligence (AI) demand driving exports, semiconductor production and investment. The upgrade reflects a sustained AI supercycle that continues to fuel demand for advanced chips and technology infrastructure, which form the backbone of Taiwan’s exports, the bank said in a report this week. “We raise our 2026 growth forecast to reflect a much stronger-than-expected first-quarter GDP figure,” Standard Chartered senior economist for greater China and Asia Tommy Wu (胡東安) said in the report. Driven largely by a 35.3 percent
RSS