Will TSMC, SK Hynix, and Amkor be an Onshore Source for Nvidia?
SK Hynix learned to package its own stacked dynamic random access memories (DRAMs) for high bandwidth memory (HBM) components. According to reports, the company is now considering entering the OSAT market by way of a strategic partnership with Amkor.
SK Hynix makes HBMs by stacking multiple DRAMs and then packaging them. It has achieved great success selling HBM to Nvidia for its GPU based AI accelerator components. TSMC currently performs both the manufacturing of the GPU die for the fabless Nvidia and then packages the component by integrating the GPUs with HBM chips it receives from SK Hynix.
Reportedly SK Hynix is reviewing a packaging outsourcing business option for which Amkor (Tempe, Arizona) would be there potential partner for this effort. Amkor is already set to receive $600MM in CHIPS monies for a $2B packaging and test factory in Arizona. Amkor is also in partnership on advanced packaging with TSMC. As the short-to-medium term demand for advanced packaging exceeds TSMC’s manufacturing capacity it may welcome an additional player in a three-way agreement between TSMC, Amkor and SK Hynix.
CHIPS Award to SK Hynix
The U.S. Department of Commerce (DoC) awarded SK Hynix $458 million in direct funding under the CHIPS Incentives Program’s Funding Opportunity for Commercial Fabrication Facilities. In addition to the direct funding of up to $458 million, the CHIPS Program Office will provide up to $500 million in loans.
The award comes on the heels of the previously signed preliminary memorandum announced in August 2024, and the completion of the Department’s required due diligence.
This funding supports SK Hynix’s investment of approximately $3.87 billion in West Lafayette, Indiana, to build a stacked HBM memory packaging facility. In April, the company announced a plan to invest $4 billion to build a memory packaging plant for artificial intelligence products, and an advanced packaging research and development (R&D) facility in West Lafayette in the U.S. state to produce next-generation memory chips.
Nvidia reported record earnings on the tech world’s growing appetite for GPUs to fuel AI development. The company says Microsoft, Meta, OpenAI, Google, and Amazon all plan on adopting the technology. The first Blackwell GPUs are slated to launch later this year (Figure 2).
CHIPS AWARD to Amkor Technology AZ
On Dec 20th the U.S. DoC announced that it had awarded Amkor Technology Arizona, a subsidiary of Amkor Technology, Inc., up to $407 million in direct funding under the CHIPS Incentives Program’s Funding Opportunity for Commercial Fabrication Facilities. [
This award will directly support Amkor’s investment of approximately $2 billion in a greenfield advanced packaging and test facility in Peoria, AZ. The award comes after the previously signed preliminary memorandum of terms, announced on July 26, 2024, and the completion of the Department’s due diligence. The Department will disburse the funds based on the company’s completion of project milestones.
For all the latest in Advanced Packaging news, stay linked to IFTLE………………..
