Integrated circuit packaging industry in Taiwan

The integrated circuit (IC) industry in Taiwan is comprised mainly of IC chip design and fabrication, IC packaging, and system product design and fabrication industries. Fueled by rapid investment and development efforts from government and private sectors, this industry has sustained a rapid growth in recent years becoming one of the most profitable industries among Asian Pacific countries. This paper details Taiwan's IC packaging manufacturing capabilities and its technology trends. It describes the Taiwan IC package industry's ability to maintain favorable competitive leverage in the global business environment. This paper concentrates on two key areas of manufacturing and technology trends to illustrate Taiwan's electronic industry in general: chip-level packages and substrate and its assembly. The requirements for different applications in the future packages are discussed. The reason for the packaging paradigm shifts and associated precautions are also explained.