LB Semicon to enter FOWLP space next year
Company to offer packaging for RF and PMIC
Outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) firm LB Semicon is planning to offer fan-out wafer-level package (FOWLP) service next year at the earliest, TheElec has learned.
The company completed the development of relevant technologies earlier this year and has been testing them with an analog chip customer since the first quarter, sources said.
FOWLP puts I/Os on the outer surface of chips, unlike fan-in packages that have them inside the chip.
This reduces the chip size and allows a ball layout. The chips are also mounted on the wafer directly and not through a printed circuit board, which allows vendors to save costs.
LB Semicon will likely offer FOWLP for RF and power management ICs.
The South Korean company is expanding its packaging service to reduce reliance on its display driver IC bumping business, which accounted for 75% of its revenue during the third quarter of last year.
LB Semicon also offers test services for CMOS image sensors and application processors.
According to Yole Development, fan-out packaging market was worth US$1.475 billion in 2020 but is expected to grow 15.1% per year on average to be worth US$3.435 billion in 2026.
FOWLP was in high demand from analog companies in the US and China, the sources said.
Apple was also using fan-out processes from its foundry vendor TSMC, they added.