[The Korea Industry Post, 2016, May 04]

Samsung Electronics is speeding up its move to develop semiconductor packaging technology with its affiliate company Samsung Electric.

The move is part of Korean IT big player’s move to catch up with TSMC’s integrated fan-out wafer-level packaging, or InFO WLP technology, as Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturer beat Samsung in a race to supply application processor, or AP for Apple’s iPhone7 called A10.

The key to TSMC’s victory was 10nm FinFET process and InFO WLP packaging.

The semiconductor maker will be the sole vendor of iPhone7’s AP.

Samsung Electronics aims to develop new packaging technology that will far outsmart TSMC’s InFO technology, as to prepare for the bid to supply 2017 iPhone’s AP.

Industrial source reported that Samsung will likely reuse Samsung display’s LCD production line called ‘L5’ which stopped its operation last year, to establish facility for the new packaging technology. 

by Brian Ahn

ahngija@kipost.net

translated by Taegeun Kim

ktg1130@kipost.net