A record number of exhibitors will this year attend Semicon Taiwan, an annual international trade fair in the semiconductor technology sector, when it opens on Wednesday next week in Taipei, organizer SEMI Taiwan said yesterday.
The annual event will feature more than 3,600 booths from over 1,100 exhibitors from home and abroad, the highest number since it was first held in 1996, according to SEMI Taiwan, an organization located in Hsinchu County that connects about 3,000 member companies and 1.5 million professionals worldwide to advance the technology and business of electronics design and manufacturing.
Ray Yang (楊瑞臨), an international strategy development consulting director at the government-sponsored Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) and a committee member at SEMI Taiwan, said this year’s event has a theme of "Empowering AI Without Limits," and highlights the significance of silicon photonics and fan-out panel level packaging (FOPLP).
Photo: CNA
A forum focusing on silicon photonics will be held during the event, featuring experts from organizations and companies, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), Inter-university Microelectronic Centre, and Marvell Technology Group Ltd, for discussions regarding the opportunities and challenges facing silicon photonics, Yang added.
Silicon photonics — known for its high bandwidth, low power consumption, long-distance transmission and cost-saving features — has become a hot topic in the semiconductor industry. It is estimated that the global silicon photonics market could reach US$7.86 billion by 2030.
In addition, a forum on FOPLP will also be held, with experts including those from Applied Materials Inc, Manz AG and Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc discussing and exploring related technological developments.
Driven by demand for 5G, artificial intelligence of things, automotive, high-performance computing and consumer products, FOPLP shows significant growth potential. According to research firm Yole Group, the market is expected to reach US$221 million by 2028, with a compound annual growth rate of 32.5 percent from last year to 2028.
Meanwhile, several TSMC senior managers, including executive vice president and co-chief operating officer YJ Mii (米玉傑), vice president of Pathfinding and Corporate Research Min Cao (曹敏), vice president of Advanced Packaging Technology and Service Jun He (何軍) and director of Advanced Packaging Business Development Jerry Tsou (鄒覺倫), will deliver speech at different forums during the event, Yang said.
He added that there will be 13 country sections at this year’s exhibition, with France, Malaysia and the Philippines new additions to the list.
Semicon Taiwan will take place from Wednesday to Friday at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday said that its research institute has launched its first advanced artificial intelligence (AI) large language model (LLM) using traditional Chinese, with technology assistance from Nvidia Corp. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), said the LLM, FoxBrain, is expected to improve its data analysis capabilities for smart manufacturing, and electric vehicle and smart city development. An LLM is a type of AI trained on vast amounts of text data and uses deep learning techniques, particularly neural networks, to process and generate language. They are essential for building and improving AI-powered servers. Nvidia provided assistance
DOMESTIC SUPPLY: The probe comes as Donald Trump has called for the repeal of the US$52.7 billion CHIPS and Science Act, which the US Congress passed in 2022 The Office of the US Trade Representative is to hold a hearing tomorrow into older Chinese-made “legacy” semiconductors that could heap more US tariffs on chips from China that power everyday goods from cars to washing machines to telecoms equipment. The probe, which began during former US president Joe Biden’s tenure in December last year, aims to protect US and other semiconductor producers from China’s massive state-driven buildup of domestic chip supply. A 50 percent US tariff on Chinese semiconductors began on Jan. 1. Legacy chips use older manufacturing processes introduced more than a decade ago and are often far simpler than
STILL HOPEFUL: Delayed payment of NT$5.35 billion from an Indian server client sent its earnings plunging last year, but the firm expects a gradual pickup ahead Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), the world’s No. 5 PC vendor, yesterday reported an 87 percent slump in net profit for last year, dragged by a massive overdue payment from an Indian cloud service provider. The Indian customer has delayed payment totaling NT$5.35 billion (US$162.7 million), Asustek chief financial officer Nick Wu (吳長榮) told an online earnings conference. Asustek shipped servers to India between April and June last year. The customer told Asustek that it is launching multiple fundraising projects and expected to repay the debt in the short term, Wu said. The Indian customer accounted for less than 10 percent to Asustek’s
Gasoline and diesel prices this week are to decrease NT$0.5 and NT$1 per liter respectively as international crude prices continued to fall last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to decrease to NT$29.2, NT$30.7 and NT$32.7 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, while premium diesel is to cost NT$27.9 per liter at CPC stations and NT$27.7 at Formosa pumps, the companies said in separate statements. Global crude oil prices dropped last week after the eight OPEC+ members said they would