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.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors