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The largest semiconductor manufacturers have manual chip packaging and verification plants in China
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Japan has emerged as the best partner to turn to to automate processes that are carried out manually
The three largest semiconductor manufacturers on the planet have plants in China. TSMC has them in Tianjin and Shanghai; Intel, in Dalian and Chengdu; and Samsung in Shaanxi, Tianjin, Xian and Suzhou. Some of these factories are specialized in the processing to which silicon wafers must be subjected to manufacture integrated circuitsand others are dedicated to the assembly, packaging and verification of the chips that contain the wafers.
The semiconductor manufacturing process is completely automatic. In fact, the people we can see in the clean rooms, next to the lithography equipment, dressed in those bulky suits that minimize the probability of contaminating the chips, are exclusively dedicated to maintaining the equipment. However, much of the processes involved in assembling, packaging and verifying chips are carried out manually.
Until very recently, China was a very desirable treat for large semiconductor manufacturers due to its work culture and, above all, the moderate salaries of its workers. Even the most qualified. This situation explains why chip manufacturers have opted not only for China, but also for Malaysia and Vietnam to set up those plants in which processes that must be carried out manually are involved.
Japan has emerged as the cradle of automation
The current tension between China on one side, and the US and its allies on the other, is making it increasingly difficult for semiconductor manufacturers. TSMC, Intel and Samsung defend their own interests, that is evident, but they cannot remain outside the international situation because their business in China is conditioned by the sanctions approved by the US and its allies. In addition, the latter are taking the necessary measures to remove the country led by Xi Jinping from the global supply chain of integrated circuits.
The US and its allies are taking the necessary measures to remove China from the global semiconductor supply chain
In these circumstances, large chip manufacturers are interested in moving away from China, and perhaps also from Southeast Asian countries, and betting on locations with favorable political and social conditions, as well as significant technological development. Japan is an ally of the US and it fully complies with these conditions, which has led Intel to partner with fourteen Japanese companies to develop the technologies necessary to set up a fully automated chip packaging and verification plant.
Moving the packaging, assembly and verification plants for integrated circuits from China, Malaysia or Vietnam to Japan is unaffordable if the manual nature of the processes involved is preserved. And it is because the costs, especially salaries, are much higher in Japan than in the other three Asian countries that I have mentioned in this paragraph. This is why Intel is investing in developing in Japan the technologies it needs to fully automate these processes.
Their plan is to allocate a total of approximately 65 million dollars to this project together with their Japanese partners. Automation technologies should be available in 2028, so from then on Intel will set up a fully automated integrated circuit packaging and verification plant in Japan. If this project goes well it will be possible build similar factories in the US because the impact of salary costs will no longer be a problem. In this article we have talked about Intel, but TSMC and Samsung also plan to set up research centers in Japan that will be expressly dedicated to innovation in the field of assembly, packaging and verification of integrated circuits.
Image | Intel
More information | Nikkei Asia
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