Technology
According to the market research firm Gartner, ASE is the largest Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) provider, with 19 percent market share.[7] The company offers services such as semiconductor assembly, packaging and testing.[8] ASE provides semiconductor assembly and testing services for over 90 percent of electronics companies in the world.[9] The packaging services include fan-out wafer-level packaging (FO-WLP), wafer-level chip-scale packaging (WL-CSP), flip chip, 2.5D and 3D packaging, system in package (SiP) and copper wire bonding.[8][10]
Fan-out wafer-level packaging (FO-WLP), a process that enables ultra-thin, high-density packages, has been around for several years, and the fan-out technology is becoming an industry trend due to increasing market demand for smaller and thinner mobile products. According to the research firm Yole Développement, the fan-out packaging market is predicted to reach $2.4 billion by 2020, increasing from $174 million in 2014.[11]
Wafer-level chip-scale packaging (WL-CSP) is the technology that enables the smallest available packages in the market, meeting the increasing demand for smaller and faster portable consumer devices. This ultra-thin package type has integrated into mobile devices such as smartphones.[11] In October 2001, ASE began volume production of wafer-level chip-scale packages.[12]
Flip chip is a method of flipping the chip to connect with either substrate or leadframe.[13] According to the research firm Yole Développement, the flip chip technology market value is expected to reach $25 billion in 2020. This market trend is mainly driven by mobile and wireless devices like tablets, computing applications such as servers, and consumer applications like smart TVs.[14]
2.5D packaging can enable hundreds of thousands of interconnects within a small package space.[15] This packaging technology is used in applications such as high memory bandwidth, network switches, router chips[15] and graphics cards for the gaming market.[16] Since 2007, ASE has been working with AMD to bring 2.5D packaging technology to market.[16] The two companies collaborated on Fiji, a 2.5D-based GPU processor designed for extreme gamers, which is small enough to fit a 6-inch PCB and connects 240,000 bumps.[17] In June 2015, Fiji was officially launched at the E3 gaming conference.[18]
System in Package (SiP) is the technology for bundling multiple ICs to work together inside a single package.[19] SiP technology is being driven by market application trends in wearables, mobile devices and Internet of Things (IoT).[20][21] In 2004, ASE was one of the first companies to begin mass production of SiP technology.[22] In April 2015, the company planned to double its SiP production capacity in the next 3 years.[21]
