The delivery time of packaging and testing equipment is extended to more than one year, and OSAT competition is intensifying

The OSAT industry is in a state of emergency to secure new equipment. This is because equipment delivery times have more than doubled. The shortage of semiconductor equipment is spreading in all directions from the front end to the back end.

According to ETNews, citing OSAT industry insiders, the delivery time for back-end processing equipment used for semiconductor chip assembly and testing has more than doubled on average in all areas. The delivery time was initially 6 months, but has now been extended to more than 12 months.

“Equipment delivery times for advanced packaging, such as fan-out (FO), and mature packaging processes, such as wafer-level packaging and flip-chip, have almost doubled,” said a semiconductor industry executive. “OSATs that did not order equipment in advance are having difficulty investing in facilities.”

In particular, the delivery time of "cutting" equipment, that is, cutting packaging and testing equipment, has become relatively long. According to the survey, the delivery time of Japanese DISCO equipment, which has a strong position in the semiconductor cutting equipment market, is 1 year and 6 months.

A person in the semiconductor equipment industry said: "The main goal of DISCO companies is to meet the demand for wafer cutting equipment suitable for the entire production process, so the supply of post-processing equipment such as packaging cutting will be secondary." "Since testing equipment is also given priority by the market, the delivery time of packaging equipment is becoming more delayed." In terms of testing equipment, it is understood that the delivery time of Teradyne in the United States and Advantest in Japan has also been extended.

There are signs that delivery delays for back-end processing equipment will continue until the end of this year. Amkor's capital expenditure this year will increase by 22% compared to last year. This is a response to market demand and to catch up with the market leader, ASE. ASE is also likely to expand its equipment investment to cope with the growing demand. It is reported that the equipment investment of major Korean OSATs is expected to increase by nearly 2 times compared to last year. It is certain that the competition for equipment will become more intense.

Some observers believe that local companies will benefit from this. Relatively short delivery time compared with foreign products has become a competitive advantage. Unable to obtain equipment from abroad, OSATs are considering local equipment as an alternative.