Be prepared for miniature semiconductors in wearables

MUMBAI, INDIA: A new revolution is underway in the smart phones and the wearables segments.

Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE) and TDK Corporation will soon float a joint venture company which would essentially embed semiconductors in substrates, thereby, setting the industry standard for semiconductor miniaturization in portable and wearable consumer devices.

As per the agreement, the JV will manufacture IC embedded substrates using TDK's Semiconductor Embedded SUBstrate (SESUB) technology.

The joint venture business model aims to leverage on TDK's success in delivering SESUB technology to the market with ASE's capabilities in advanced packaging, test and module level solutions for semiconductor miniaturization.

"With the anticipated need for further miniaturization and weight reduction of smart phones and wearable devices in the future, demand for semiconductors embedded in substrates, such as SESUBs, is expected to increase globally," said Takehiro Kamigama, CEO and President, TDK.

TDK has been producing SESUBs at its Kofu Plant, but to meet the anticipated increase in demand, it will establish the joint company in Taiwan to add to its production capacity with ASE, which possesses technologies including assembly of IC packages and other items, and boasts a world-class performance record in product testing. The joint venture establishment will create a structure for full-scale mass production, he added.

"ASE serves a diverse group of customers including several major players supplying to the portable and wearable consumer market and is a leader in SIP integration using its advanced packaging solutions and test expertise. TDK, on the other hand, has a proven proprietary embedded substrate technology addressing the market needs of integrating more chips and functions, higher performance, lower power consumption and better heat dissipation onto a smaller form factor," remarked Tien Wu, COO, ASE Group.

"We see this powerful alliance as an added value to the ASE SIP ecosystem and together, catapulting TDK's SESUB technology into the forefront as an industry standard," he opined.

ASE and TDK will own 51 percent and 49 percent, respectively, of the newly created entity which will be named ASE Embedded Electronics Incorporated, with manufacturing facility in the Nantze Export Processing Zone, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan.

However, the proposed establishment of and capital injection into the joint venture company will be subject to various regulatory approvals or consents (including but not limited to the approvals of the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission and Export Processing Zone Administration), the companies said in a press statement.