Samsung Electro-Mechanics to go into trial production for server FC-BGA

Samsung Electro-Mechanics will go into trial production for server flip-chip ball grid array (FC-BGA) during the third quarter, TheElec has learned.

The packages will be made at its Busan facility and are for a major global customer, sources said.

The South Korean component maker had so far manufactured FC-BGAs for PCs and networks. It is its first for those aimed at servers.

It will be competing with Japan’s Ibiden and Shinko Denki, leaders in the server FC-BGA sector.

The major customer of Samsung Electro-Mechanics is competing with Intel in the server CPU market.

It has been seeking to secure a stable supply chain for FC-BGA, the sources said.

Intel is using its market-dominant position and announcing co-spending plans with Ibiden and Shinko Denki to dominate the supply chain.

This makes newcomer to server FC-BGA Samsung Electro-Mechanics an attractive supplier for the major customer.

Samsung Electro-Mechanics had been manufacturing PC FC-BGA for Intel but so far couldn’t win the US chip giant as a customer for server FC-BGA.

The South Korean company is expected to secure revenue for server FC-BGA sometime in 2024 after trial production begins.

Meanwhile, Samsung Electro-Mechanics had previously said in February that it plans to spend 1.3 trillion won in its Vietnam facility to expand FC-BGA production.

In March, it announced spending of 30o billion won at its Busan facility to also expand FC-BGA production.

The total spending amount, 1.6 trillion won, is more than triple the annual revenue it earns for FC-BGA currently.

The Vietnam facility will manufacture FC-BGA for PCs and networks; while the Busan factory will make server FC-BGA.

The chip shortage caused by the pandemic has also caused demand for FC-BGA to increase in recent years.