The war between TSMC and Samsung over advanced packaging has revived.
In 2020, Samsung launched the 3D packaging technology brand X-Cube, claiming that SRAM memory can be directly stacked on 7nm chips, in an attempt to narrow the distance with TSMC in advanced packaging. A few days later, TSMC President Wei Zhejia appeared and announced the launch of its own advanced packaging brand 3D Fabric. TSMC’s latest SoIC (System Integration Chip) has attracted much attention.
Back in 2015, Samsung and TSMC separately produced the A9 processor used in Apple’s iPhone; Samsung is the global memory leader and produced chips with 14nm technology, while TSMC uses 16nm and InFO packaging technology. As a result, netizens found that the battery life of the Samsung version of the chip was not as good as that of the TSMC version. Since then, TSMC has monopolized iPhone processor orders every year.
TSMC monopolizes the secret of iPhone processor orders
In the past four years, TSMC has used advanced packaging to compete for business opportunities that are far more than just iPhone processors. AMD (Supermicro), which has soaring stock prices in 2020, uses advanced packaging technology for the latest version of its chips. Open AMD’s latest processor, you can see the core chip manufactured with 7nm, the peripheral unit is manufactured with 14nm, and then use advanced packaging to form a chip; through this method, AMD only needs to increase the core chip on the chip The number of chips can quickly improve the performance of the chip, and the market share has also continued to increase.
In addition, Fujitsu’s supercomputer chips, Nvidia’s Tesla graphics chips, Broadcom’s next-generation AI chips, and Xilinx’s FPGA chips are all customers of TSMC’s advanced packaging.
TSMC’s latest SoIC is even more powerful. According to TSMC’s public information, this technology can arbitrarily combine chips of various processes. In addition to memory, it can even directly package the sensors together in the same chip. In the future, when you take a picture, from receiving and storing the image to recognizing the image, things that can only be done by a computer system in the past may be done with a single chip. According to the information released by TSMC, the circuit density of TSMC’s SoIC+ packaging technology will be 1,000 times that of 2.5D wafer packaging.
According to industry sources, Apple will use more advanced packaging services in the future. Apple’s M1 chip will be packaged in traditional BGA in 2020, and will switch to wafer-level packaging in 2021; therefore, although TSMC now has 4 advanced packaging plants, However, it is actively building a new factory in Miaoli. With the rise of advanced packaging, a new industry chain has emerged. The following companies will be members of TSMC’s advanced packaging team.
Jingcai accepts TSMC’s wafer-level test business
Player 1: Fine materials.The Jingcai team has been studying advanced packaging for many years. In the past, one of the main businesses of Jingcai was to use wafer-level packaging to make an IC from image sensors and logic ICs. However, starting from the second half of 2020, Fine Materials will play the role of TSMC’s wafer-level testing plant. The original image sensing advanced packaging business will gradually shrink. It is reported from the outside that TSMC will conduct wafer-level testing with lower gross profit. The business is handed over to Jingcai, and the third party transfers the equipment to Jingcai, who is responsible for operation and management.
“Apple wants to reduce costs, and TSMC wants to increase gross margins, making fine materials the best choice.” According to industry sources, fine materials have recently fluctuated because the market has different views on whether there will be new orders for fine materials in 2021. In the first 11 months of 2020, Jingcai’s revenue has reached a record high in 17 years since its establishment.
Player 2: China Southern Power.The industrial changes brought about by advanced packaging not only affect the packaging and testing industry, but also have an important impact on PCB (printed circuit board) factories. Nandian is the best representative.
An packaging and testing industry observed that when TSMC first introduced advanced packaging, because this technology could directly integrate several chips distributed on the PCB board into one chip, “Nan Electric’s entire PCB production line disappeared. !”
However, advanced packaging is also an opportunity for PCB manufacturers, because in advanced packaging technology, it is still necessary to place the chip on a high-precision carrier to connect the chip to the physical circuit. “If the PCB circuit used to be a flat road, the carrier board is a three-dimensional elevated road.” According to industry analysts, the manufacturing requirements of the carrier board are getting closer and closer to the semiconductor. On the most sophisticated carrier board, the circuit width is only a few microns. , On a carrier board the size of a nail, it must be able to hold thousands of circuits.
Therefore, one of the evidences of the popularity of advanced packaging is that the supply of ABF carrier boards is in short supply. This material meets the current demand for high-frequency communication and high-speed computing, and can undertake the task of connecting expensive chips. “The high-end ABF carrier board has a yield rate of almost zero.” According to industry sources, TSMC and Licheng are closely watching the production progress of the carrier board factory. An executive of a packaging and testing plant said: “The supply of carrier boards now directly affects advanced packaging production capacity.”
The big winners of Nandian and Xinxing under the shortage of carrier boards
ABF is out of stock, and Nandian’s profitability is also taking off; in the third quarter of 2019, the gross profit margin of Nandian was only 3%, but it rose to 14% in the third quarter of 2020. At the time of the law meeting, Nandian also said that in the past, Japan had more advantages in carrier boards, but now the ABF carrier board industry chain is shifting. Taiwan has the world’s largest market share in wafer manufacturing and packaging. Taiwanese manufacturers make carrier boards. Naturally it has more advantages.
Three-quarters of Nandian’s capital expenditure in 2020 will be used for ABF and other carrier boards. By the end of 2020, Nandian Kunshan Plant will complete the expansion of the ABF production line. In addition, the increase in system-in-package (SiP) application levels, such as AirPods wireless headsets, and 5G-driven antenna module packaging requirements, also increase the demand for BT carrier boards.
Player 3: Xinxing.Xinxing is the world’s largest supplier of ABF carrier boards. A few years ago, the industry had different views on the development of ABF substrates. The production of such substrates was not only expensive, but also technically difficult. However, Xinxing actively expanded ABF production capacity at the request of its chairman Zeng Zizhang, so it became this wave of shortages. Victor in the tide.
Now Xinxing has long been an important strategic partner of Intel and TSMC. Large manufacturers such as Intel will cooperate with suppliers such as Xinxing to produce. Special carrier boards can only be used exclusively for their products. When production capacity is tight, this approach can ensure supply. The importance of carrier board manufacturers is evident.
Player 4: Hongsu.Taiwan’s development in advanced packaging has also given local equipment and material factories new development opportunities. In the past, the equipment and materials in the semiconductor manufacturing process required higher requirements than the general electronic manufacturing process, and most of them were foreign companies. However, this time when TSMC and other companies develop advanced packaging, they will also give local manufacturers opportunities in order to accelerate the R&D process. Since TSMC’s process research and development mostly adopts the two groups of A and B competition, finding a manufacturer willing to cooperate fully will also help the development schedule.
Hongsu is a Taiwanese company that has successfully entered the TSMC advanced packaging supply chain.
▲ Advanced packaging is a new opportunity for Taiwan’s semiconductor equipment and material plants. (Source:TSMC）
Hongsu and Changxing equipment materials stick to the sacred mountain of protecting the country
According to industry analysts, Hongsu’s equipment and materials used in advanced packaging cleaning have successfully entered TSMC. Since the advanced packaging process will release a large amount of impurities, it must rely on Hongsu’s cleaning machine and use high-pressure pumps to promote water jets to clean the wafer surface. , Or atomize the ultra-pure water, deep into each gap of the wafer to absorb impurities. In 2019, Hongsu also developed an etching machine for 3D IC and a photoresist for packaging, expanding its market share in advanced packaging.
Player 5: Changxing Chemical.Since materials account for more than 30% of the cost of advanced packaging, and the trade war has increased the demand for local supply in the semiconductor industry chain, TSMC intends to strengthen cooperation with Taiwan’s local specialty chemical manufacturers. Changxing Chemical has important materials such as photoresist for PCB for many years. It has also developed Mold Under Fill, a material for 3D IC packaging. In the past, this market has always been dominated by American and Japanese manufacturers. There are only a handful of manufacturers that can provide them, but Changxing has developed high-fluidity packaging materials and has entered TSMC packaging supply chain.
(This article is from Caixun Authorized to reprint; source of the first image: shutterstock)
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