[News] TSMC Assigns CoW Order for the First Time, Reportedly to OSAT Provider SPIL

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Despite recent issues with NVIDIA’s GB200 shipments, the market remains optimistic about long-term AI demand, and CoWoS capacity continues to be in short supply.

According to a report from MoneyDJ, TSMC will assign orders of the initial stage of chip stacking in CoWoS packaging, Chip on Wafer (CoW), for the first time, to semiconductor assembly and test service provider SPIL.

The process will reportedly to manufactured at SPIL’s Zhong Ke Facility in Taichung. The company is said to build new capacity, with tool-in expected in the second quarter of 2025 and production ramping up in the third quarter.

TSMC President C.C. Wei previously disclosed that this year’s CoWoS capacity will more than double, with the growth trajectory similar in 2025. The company will continue to collaborate with OSATs to advance their packaging capabilities, Wei said.

Tien Wu, COO of another major outsourced semiconductor assembly & test services (OSAT) company ASE, also mentioned at its recent earnings call that the company has been co-developing both oS and CoW processes with their foundry partners for many years.

In fact, CoWoS is already a well-established technology. TSMC has been outsourcing the WoS (Wafer-on-Substrate) process, targeting small-batch, high-performance chips, while retaining the high-margin, high-tech CoW process in-house.

Lower-margin oS processes are handed over to packaging and testing companies. During the initial phase of this expansion wave, TSMC did not release CoW orders, but due to the overwhelming demand, they now have to outsource part of the process.

Industry sources cited by MoneyDJ further reveal that even Chinese companies have been excluded from the list, there are still several OSATs capable of handling TSMC’s outsourced CoWoS processes, such as Amkor, ASE, and SPIL.

After evaluation, SPIL’s plant in Central Taiwan was selected. It is reported that SPIL already collaborates with NVIDIA and AMD in the advanced packaging field, possessing capabilities not only for CoWoS-S but also for the higher-end CoWoS-L. This makes SPIL a strong second supplier for these major American companies.

Reportedly, TSMC will release the first phase of CoWoS-S orders to SPIL. Currently, SPIL’s CoWoS-related capacity is about 40,000 to 50,000 wafers per year. They plan to tool-in at the plant in Central Taiwan Science Park around the second quarter of next year.

It’s estimated by MoneyDJ’s report that TSMC’s CoWoS capacity remains in short supply, at 35,000 to 40,000 wafers per month this year. With the additional outsourced capacity, next year’s production could reach over 65,000 wafers per month, or possibly higher.

Read more

• [News] TSMC Rumored to Build New CoWoS Plant in Southern Taiwan
• [News] CoWoS Booming, TSMC Price Hikes Reportedly Imminent

(Photo credit: TSMC)