Xiao Shengli: Packaging and testing companies should uphold the concept of cooperation over competition

On November 9, the 18th China Semiconductor Packaging Test Technology and Market Annual Conference was held in Tianshui, Gansu. At the conference, Xiao Shengli, the current chairman of the Packaging Branch of the China Semiconductor Industry Association, gave a report on "The Current Situation and Prospects of China's Semiconductor Packaging Industry".

Xiao Shengli called on packaging and testing companies to uphold the concept of cooperation over competition, actively cultivate the construction of domestic equipment and materials, and gradually complete the test platform.

The report mentioned that the opportunities in packaging technology lie in the following: first, the development of Moore's Law has encountered a bottleneck, and the feature size of chips has approached the physical limit. Advanced packaging technology has become the inevitable choice to continue Moore's Law. The rise of the "packaging and testing middle road" that connects the past and the future and the rapid development of advanced packaging technology have brought good opportunities to packaging and testing companies.

Second, "disruptive" technological innovation will become the key to driving the development of semiconductor technology. In the next 10-20 years, integrated circuits will mainly improve density and performance, reduce power consumption, and integrate more functions through heterogeneous heterogeneous system integration.

Third, advanced packaging and testing technology has become a hot topic in the industry. (The upstream and downstream industrial chains of traditional packaging and testing are developing corresponding advanced packaging technologies)

At the same time, packaging technology also faces three major challenges.

First, the independent control of the packaging and testing industry chain (equipment and materials): Advanced packaging process technology is highly dependent on equipment and materials. At present, the materials such as photoresist, electroplating solution, powder resin, and photolithography machines, electroplating machines, excimer laser machines, and high-end testing machines required in advanced processes are all imported. With the Sino-US trade war and the US sanctions on Huawei, and even the possible escalation of further sanctions on China's semiconductor industry, the risk of being controlled by others is increasing. It is necessary for the domestic industrial chain to support each other, verify and use domestic equipment and materials, and continuously promote the capacity improvement and mass production of the domestic industrial chain.

Second, the introduction, training and retention of talents in the packaging and testing industry: Wuhan, Hefei, Xiamen, Nanjing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Xi'an and other places are vigorously promoting the development of the integrated circuit industry, and the supply of talents is in short supply, especially high-end talents. The government, schools and enterprises need to provide full support from the selection, training, use and retention of talents, from systems to policies.

Third, the "disruptive" advanced packaging technology landscape: As the upstream and downstream of the packaging and testing industry chain have shifted from single business to advanced packaging foundry business. For example, TSMC's advanced packaging technology Info, COwOS; substrate factory ATS, ACEESS's ECP technology. In addition, in order to meet the high performance requirements of high-end products, technologies such as tV, 3D, Hybrid Bonding, etc. are mainly mastered by Fab factories (equipment capabilities and processes are the main factors), and there is still a large gap in this area in China.

However, there is still a large gap between the domestic C packaging and testing industry and the world's first-class level. Against the backdrop of Sino-US trade frictions, the self-sufficiency rate is less than 25%, and the situation of insufficient market self-supply has not changed significantly.

On the one hand, my country's packaging industry has developed but there are also gaps.

Although my country's packaging industry started very early and has developed rapidly, it is mainly based on traditional packaging products. In recent years, domestic manufacturers have rapidly accumulated advanced packaging technologies through mergers and acquisitions. The technology platform has basically been synchronized with overseas manufacturers. Advanced packaging technologies such as BGA, TVS, WLCSP, and SiP have been mass-produced, but the overall proportion of advanced packaging revenue to total revenue is still far behind that of Taiwan and the United States. Among the top 10 companies in the world's packaging and testing industry, Taiwan accounts for 5 seats, with a market share of 44.1%; Mainland China accounts for 3 seats, with a market share of only 20.1%; among the top 30 packaging and testing companies, foreign-funded and Taiwanese companies are stronger than domestic companies in terms of quantity, scale and technical capabilities.

On the other hand, the scale of the industry is also expanding, becoming stronger and more refined.

After several years of merger and acquisition frenzy, mergers and acquisitions in the semiconductor industry have shown a downward trend, and the merger and acquisition tide has receded; there are few targets left for acquisition, and those that have been acquired need to be adjusted and digested; domestic packaging and testing companies still need to make more, greater and faster progress in advanced packaging technology levels through various means such as continuous independent technological innovation and international cooperation in order to meet the ever-changing market demands.

In addition, it is also facing the impact of export restrictions on technology products due to the Sino-US trade war, the expansion of the entity list, and the Huawei incident.

To this end, he called for unity of purpose and technological innovation to jointly promote the development of China's semiconductor packaging and testing industry.

First, we should work together to strengthen the construction of the integrated circuit ecological chain, link up the upstream and downstream industries, share R&D results, actively innovate, and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of innovation.

Second, talent cultivation and accumulation. In line with the national integrated circuit talent policy, we will strengthen school-enterprise cooperation to develop a special resource library for integrated circuit talent cultivation; encourage the improvement of incentive mechanisms for high-end talents in line with relevant national policies; formulate and implement an annual plan for the introduction and training of integrated circuit and software talents, and promote the construction of a national international training base for integrated circuit and software talents;

Third, we will continue to strengthen the research and development of innovative technology capabilities. Enterprises have increased their investment in scientific and technological innovation, and the new business opportunities brought to integrated circuit packaging and testing in the fields of advanced storage, advanced computing, advanced manufacturing, and new generation semiconductor technology require us to invest heavily in strengthening the research and development of advanced packaging.

Finally, he mentioned that integrated circuits are called the "oil" of modern industry, and China's integrated circuit industry has also become a strategic pillar industry for national development; at present, China's packaging and testing industry has made rapid technological progress and the industry has developed rapidly. Under the general environment of domestic substitution and the development of "new infrastructure", with the help of national preferential policies, the packaging and testing market has broad growth prospects; packaging and testing companies should uphold the concept of cooperation over competition, actively cultivate the construction of domestic equipment and materials, and gradually complete the test platform; further enhance the training and accumulation of talents in technological innovation capabilities, and increase the interaction and cooperation between upstream and downstream products, so as to make greater progress in the ever-changing market competition.