Kulicke & Soffa Industries secures advanced packaging orders amid “aggressive capacity expansion plans”
27 Nov 2023 --- Kulicke & Soffa Industries, a global semiconductor packaging solutions provider, announced the reception of multiple orders for its Thermocompression Bonding (TCB) solutions, advancing its position in the high-growth AI sector.
The orders primarily focus on supporting Silicon Photonics (SiPh) based Co-Packaged Optics (CPO) applications deployed in high-bandwidth networking transceivers. Kulicke & Soffa anticipates follow-on orders, aligning with aggressive capacity expansion plans throughout fiscal years 2024 and 2025.
The company shares that CPO units are expected to experience a 66% CAGR through the calendar year 2033, underscoring the burgeoning opportunities within the broader AI landscape. CPO leverages SiPh capabilities and is crucial in delivering power efficiency and higher-bandwidth networking — pivotal for the adoption of AI technologies.
“Our capable, performance-focused advanced packaging solutions are driving significant market interest, as they efficiently address many emerging assembly challenges,” shares John Molnar, vice president and general manager for Advanced Solutions at Kulicke & Soffa.
“Our unique solutions provide precision control and critical features, which unlock meaningful value for the most challenging optical, high-volume logic and emerging heterogeneous applications. These recent orders highlight our leadership in TCB but also validate the growth potential of the emerging advanced packaging marketplace.”
CPO leveraging SiPh capabilities are delivering power-efficiency and higher-bandwidth networking which is critical in enabling global adoption of AI.
Advancing AI
In addition to high-performance computing and leading-edge heterogeneous applications, Kulicke & Soffa has gained access to the rapidly growing CPO market.
“Today, AI is transforming machine learning, network infrastructure and edge-device requirements by demanding capable and cost-effective approaches to support stacked or planar multi-die applications,” the company introduces.
“These heterogeneous, or chiplet, applications are being deployed in high-bandwidth memory; enterprise logic (GPU, CPU, TPU); and high-volume application processors and communications devices. As these markets continue to transition from flip-chip technology, [Kulicke & Soffa] anticipates significant opportunities.”
Over recent years, the company has leveraged its competencies in TCB, 2.5D and 3D packaging types to capture market share in high-volume logic, CPO and leading-edge heterogeneous applications. “Demand for [Kulicke & Soffa] TCB solutions has increased dramatically over recent years and recent market demand has caused the TCB business to be supply-chain limited over the near term,” it details.
Kulicke & Soffa’s thermocompression revenue has reportedly grown 149% CAGR since 2020. The company is currently engaged in production and parallel evaluations for new process steps at leading foundries, integrated device manufacturers and outsourced semiconductor assembly and test providers.
The strategic positioning in the AI market, coupled with increasing demand for their solutions, positions Kulicke & Soffa for further growth as AI technologies become more integral to everyday life.
Edited by Radhika Sikaria
