February 19, 2025 /SemiMedia/ — ASE Group announced on February 18 that it will significantly expand its operations in Malaysia, with plans to double its workforce to approximately 6,000 employees and increase factory space from 1 million square feet to 3.4 million square feet in the coming years. The company stated that its Malaysian facility will become its largest production base outside Taiwan, focusing on automotive image sensors and power semiconductor packaging, with plans to expand into more advanced chip packaging technologies.

ASE CEO, Tien Wu, emphasized that Malaysia’s stable socio-economic environment makes it an ideal location for expanding its semiconductor packaging operations. He also highlighted that artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics will be key drivers of growth moving forward. As the demand for chips in robotics continues to rise, ASE views this emerging sector as a significant growth opportunity.

Once considered less critical than chip manufacturing, semiconductor packaging has become increasingly important with the rise of multi-chip stacking and packaging technologies. Tien Wu estimates the global semiconductor packaging market will grow from $32 billion in 2019 to $60 billion by 2024, and is expected to reach $90 billion by 2029.

In addition, ASE is investing $200 million to establish a fan-out panel-level packaging (FOPLP) production line in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, to meet the growing demand for AI chips. The production line is scheduled for equipment installation in the second and third quarters of 2023, with trial production expected by the end of the year. If successful, mass production and customer certifications are expected to begin in 2024.

The FOPLP production line is a key part of ASE’s strategy to expand its advanced packaging capacity in response to the rising demand for AI chip packaging. Tien Wu noted that, given the high cost of AI chips, the risk associated with the packaging process increases as more die are added. This significant investment would not have been possible without strong support from its customers. ASE has been developing large-scale FOPLP technology for over a decade, achieving promising results with 300×300 mm square designs and advancing to 600×600 mm specifications. If production yields meet expectations, 600×600 could become the industry standard for FOPLP.

According to market research firm TrendForce, FOPLP technology will primarily be used for power management ICs (PMICs), RF ICs, CPUs, GPUs, and AI GPUs. AI GPUs are expected to begin mass production by 2027.