In recent years, influenced by complex international dynamics and the need to safeguard supply chain security, Southeast Asian countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam have become prime locations for numerous semiconductor giants to establish overseas operations. Now, the Philippines may join the ranks of these nations.

Recently, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo addressed her desire to assist the Philippines in doubling its semiconductor facilities to lessen the geographic concentration of the global chip supply chain.

Previously, according to the press release of the U.S. Department of Commerce, Raimondo has announced the plan to invest USD 1 Billion in Philippines.

“The Indo-Pacific includes some of the most dynamic economies in the world. It was an honor to lead the first-ever trade mission of this nature to the Philippines and to underscore the immense potential, which is evident in the more than $1 billion of investments from this mission alone,” said Raimondo.

According to Taiwantrade’s Data, it has indicated that the semiconductor and electronics industry is the top-performing sector among the Philippines’ export commodities, accounting for approximately 60% of total commodity exports.

The semiconductor industry in the Philippines primarily focuses on the assembly and testing sector. With a high literacy rate and a young workforce proficient in English, the Philippines has become a significant assembly and testing hub for global semiconductor giants such as Amkor, Intel, ADI, and TI (Texas Instruments).

Geographically, the semiconductor industry in the Philippines is concentrated in four main regions: Manila, Calabarzon, Northern/Central Luzon, and Cebu. Among these regions, Manila stands out as the primary hub, hosting assembly and testing facilities for globally renowned companies like Amkor, Onsemi, as well as Toshiba’s hard drive assembly plant.

Currently, the Philippines has 13 semiconductor assembly, testing, and packaging facilities. Most of the products produced are exported to other regions for assembly or application. The integrated circuits (ICs) used in these facilities mainly come from Taiwan, the United States, and Japan, with finished products primarily exported to Singapore, China, and Japan.

However, the Philippines is not content with just the assembly and testing sector. In February of this year, it was previously reported by Philippine Board of Investments (BOI) in its press release, stating that the BOI would collaborate with the United States to expand its semiconductor capabilities, including the construction of its first fab.

The BOI aims to build a laboratory-scale fab. This facility will provide general manufacturing process technology to encourage local semiconductor startups and train semiconductor engineers.

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(Photo credit: Intel)

With AI demand exploding across the board, TSMC initiated a major expansion plan for CoWoS in 2023. According to MoneyDJ citing sources, TSMC reportedly initiated a new wave of orders to Taiwan-based equipment manufacturers this month. Delivery is expected in the fourth quarter of this year.

Therefore, by the end of 2024, monthly production capacity may have the chance to double from the company’s target and further exceed market estimates of 35,000 wafers, possibly reaching over 40,000 wafers. As per the same report, TSMC is making a full-scale push to expand its CoWoS production capacity, aiming for a doubling of growth by 2024, with continued expansion expected in 2025.

As per multiple sources cited by MoneyDJ, TSMC resumed ordering CoWoS equipment in April 2023, with the second and third waves of additional orders placed in June and October, respectively. Subsequently, there were sporadic additional orders.

However, this month, there is a new wave of proactive orders, scheduled for delivery in the fourth quarter. Initially, it was estimated that CoWoS monthly production capacity would reach 32,000 to 35,000 wafers by the end of 2024. Now, it is possible that it will exceed 40,000 wafers.

Regarding TSMC’s SoIC, following AMD, Apple also plans to adopt this technology, intending to use SoIC combined with Hybrid molding. Currently, it is undergoing small-scale trial production.

To meet customer demand, TSMC continues to revise its capacity plans. At the end of last year, SoIC monthly capacity was around 2,000 wafers, with a target to reach nearly 6,000 wafers by the end of this year. The monthly capacity target for 2025 is to double again to over 14,000 to 15,000 wafers.

Still, as per industry sources cited by CNA in its previous report, the demand for advanced packaging capacity for AI chips still outstrips supply. The report also revealed that NVIDIA has sought assistance from packaging and testing subcontractors outside of TSMC to augment their advanced packaging capabilities.

Amkor, among others, began gradually providing capacity support from the fourth quarter of last year, while SPIL, a subsidiary of ASE, is slated to commence supply in the first quarter of this year.

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• [News] TSMC to Expand Production with New Facilities Across Taiwan in April
• [News] TSMC Reportedly Doubles CoWoS Capacity while Amkor, ASE also Enter Advanced Packaging for AI

(Photo credit: TSMC)

With the rising demand in the memory market and Chinese memory companies actively preparing for competition, a report from TechNews indicates that Zhou Meisheng, formerly the assistant to SMIC’s co-CEO Liang Mengsong, has joined ChangXin Memory Technology (CXMT) as the head of the Technical Research and Development Center, attracting attention.

Zhou Meisheng has previously served as the CTO of Lam Research in China, a global research and development equipment technology company. Before that, she held positions in various semiconductor companies, including Chartered Semiconductor (Singapore), UMC, and GlobalFoundries.

Starting in 2017, she served as the Executive Vice President of R&D at SMIC, directly reporting to co-CEO Liang Mengsong. She played a crucial role as Liang Mengsong’s key assistant in driving SMIC’s advanced process initiatives. In 2022, Zhou Meisheng retired, resigning from all positions at SMIC, sparking speculation.

The technology of CXMT continues to make breakthroughs, and by the end of 2023, the official website of CXMT announced the development of China’s first LPDDR5 DRAM chip. They introduced a series of LPDDR5 products, including 12GB LPDDR5, 12GB LPDDR5 with POP packaging, and 6GB LPDDR5 with DSC packaging.

LPDDR5 represents the fifth generation of low-power DRAM, and compared to the previous LPDDR4X, the new LPDDR4X has a 50% increase in capacity and speed, reaching 12GB capacity, a data transfer rate of 6,400Mbps, and a 30% reduction in power consumption.

In fact, CXMT’s main competitor Samsung announced the mass production of 12GB LPDDR5 mobile DRAM in July 2019, while Micron supplied LPDDR5 DRAM with capacities of 6GB, 8GB, and 12GB in February 2020. SK Hynix, on the other hand, announced the mass production of 18GB LPDDR5 mobile DRAM in August 2021. Therefore, considering the timeline, there’s an approximate four-year technology gap between CXMT and other global giants.

As for the DRAM market, it currently remains highly concentrated, dominated by key players such as Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron Technology, collectively holding over 96% of the entire market share.

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(Photo credit: CXMT)

As various governments actively court semiconductor foundries in Taiwan, PSMC, in partnership with India’s Tata Group, held a groundbreaking ceremony for India’s first 12-inch fab on March 12th. As per a report from TechNews, PSMC has been collaborating with Japan and India recently to establish a semiconductor manufacturing path distinct from TSMC’s, marking Chairman Frank Huang’s latest overseas strategy amidst geopolitical shifts.

Due to various countries actively developing the semiconductor industry and seeking assistance from Taiwan, PSMC Chairman Frank Huang stated that this year is a transformative year for PSMC. In addition to optimistically viewing the new foundry opportunities brought about by geopolitical shifts, PSMC will also focus on a global development strategy centered around “Fab IP.”

“Taiwan’s semiconductor strength is formidable because no one else can do what Taiwan is doing,” said Frank Huang. He mentioned that, following President Tsai Ing-wen’s directive to assist India in building a semiconductor plant, it serves as a path for Taiwanese companies to understand the foundational cooperation model in India.

Therefore, PSMC decided to provide technology, with India responsible for building the plant and providing funding. The investment structure involves 70% from the Indian government and 30% from the Tata Group.

Global Expansion Through “Fab IP”

PSMC’s Fab IP strategy leverages its long-term accumulated experience in plant construction and semiconductor manufacturing technology to assist other countries in building semiconductor plants while earning royalties for technology transfers.

Frank Huang pointed out that the company has established a “Manufacturing IP Transfer Department” which does not invest money but only provides technology transfer. Its main focus is assisting other countries in building plants, extending from Japan and India to countries in the Middle East and Europe, all of which represent opportunities for Taiwan.

PSMC General Manager Brian Shieh believes that overseas plant construction requires a thorough consideration of operations and future costs. Therefore, PSMC tends to assist in building plants without assuming operational responsibilities. Instead, they only provide services, which differs from TSMC’s overseas cooperation model.

Due to the keen interest of various countries in IP technology transfer, Frank Huang believes that IP transfer will also become one of the important sources of revenue in the future. “Up to 7-8 countries have approached PSMC,” including Vietnam, Thailand, India, Saudi Arabia, France, Poland, Lithuania, and others.

He mentioned that from Japan to India, they have been actively engaged in IP transfer and are currently in discussions with two other countries. The source cited by the report also indicates that Vietnam is actively negotiating with PSMC, although PSMC has not responded to this.

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• [News] PSMC Assists Tata in Fab Establishment through Technology Transfer
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(Photo credit: PSMC)

Amidst the AI frenzy, HBM has become a focal point for major semiconductor manufacturers, and another storage giant is making new moves.

According to Korean media “THE ELEC”, Samsung Electronics plans to establish an HBM development office to enhance its competitiveness in the HBM market. The size of the team has not been determined yet, but Samsung’s HBM task force is expected to undergo upgrades.

The report indicates that if the task force is upgraded to a development office, Samsung will then establish specialized design and solution teams for HBM development. The head of the development office will be appointed from among vice president-level personnel.

In terms of research and development progress, the three major manufacturers have all advanced to the stage of HBM3e.

Regarding Samsung, in February, the company just released its first 36GB HBM3e 12H DRAM, which is currently Samsung’s largest capacity HBM product. Presently, Samsung has begun providing samples of HBM3e 12H to customers, with mass production expected to commence in the latter half of this year.

On the other hand, Micron Technology has announced the commencement of mass production of high-frequency memory “HBM3e,” which will be utilized in NVIDIA’s latest AI chip, the “H200” Tensor Core graphics processing unit (GPU). The H200 is scheduled for shipment in the second quarter of 2024.

Another major player, SK Hynix, as per Business Korea, plans to begin mass production of HBM3e in the first half of 2024.

In terms of production capacity, both SK Hynix and Micron Technology have previously disclosed that HBM production capacity is fully allocated. This indicates a strong market demand for HBM, reaffirming manufacturers’ determination to expand production.

As per previous report by Bloomberg, SK Hynix plans to invest an additional USD 1 billion in advanced packaging for HBM. The company stated in its recent financial report that it intends to increase capital expenditures in 2024 and shift production focus to high-end storage products such as HBM.

The capacity for HBM is expected to more than double compared to last year. From a demand perspective, it is anticipated that over 60% of future demand for HBM will stem from the primary application of AI servers.

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(Photo credit: Samsung)