Cheng Mei Instrument Technology Co (政美應用), an advanced chip packaging inspection tool supplier, yesterday said it delivered its first chip inspection tool for next-generation panel-level packaging (PLP) technology for artificial intelligence (AI) chips this month, eight to 10 months ahead of its rivals.
In addition, the company has made a breakthrough in developing chip-on-panel-on-substrate (CoPoS) inspection and passed a customer’s verification, enabling shipment of the equipment to a local chip testing and packaging service provider earlier this month, it said.
That would allow the company to break into a market long dominated by KLA Corp.
Photo: CNA
The PLP, or CoPoS, technology is widely expected to be a successor to chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) technology, which is currently used in packaging Nvidia Corp’s AI chips. The major technology shift would replace 300mm round wafer carriers with 310mm by 310mm square panel carriers, addressing constraints on usable areas and capacity, the company said.
“The company expects demand for advanced inspection metrology equipment to outpace traditional equipment in the 2026 to 2029 period, given rapidly rising demand for advanced chip packaging technologies such as CoPoS and CoWoS,” Cheng Mei chairman Tony Tsai (蔡政道) told reporters in Taipei yesterday.
“The company is targeting the advanced packaging segment for growth,” Tsai said.
The addressable market of the world’s advanced chip inspection and metrology tools used in advanced chip packaging is expected to soar 71 percent to NT$60 billion (US$1.91 billion) in 2029 from NT$35 billion next year, the company predicted.
Traditional tools are expected to grow 67 percent to NT$20 billion, it said.
Cheng Mei reported a net loss of NT$54.2 million in the first half of this year, compared with a net loss of NT$71.45 million in the same period last year.
The company is optimistic about next year’s business outlook, driven by aggressive CoWoS capacity expansion by its major customer amid booming AI demand, Tsai said.
That would help the company boost its semiconductor-related equipment revenue to make up more than 70 percent of its total revenue next year, compared with about 60 percent this year, it said.
Global CoWoS capacity is expected to expand significantly to 137,000 wafers per month next year from about 80,000 wafers this year, including those by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), chip packagers and testers ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控) and Amkor Technology Inc, Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) said in a report.
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
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
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
Nvidia Corp yesterday announced that CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) would attend an employee meeting in Taipei tomorrow to celebrate the launch of the company’s Taiwan headquarters project. Huang would attend a gathering at the site of Nvidia’s planned headquarters in Beitou Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區), the company said in a statement. After arriving in Taiwan on Saturday last week, Huang told reporters that he plans to meet with Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), and would attend the groundbreaking ceremony for Nvidia’s Taiwan headquarters tomorrow. Nvidia has not yet applied
RSS