ASE and TDK set up Taiwan joint venture to manufacture IC substrates with SESUB technology

Advanced Semiconductor Engineering and TDK Corporation will establish a joint venture company to manufacture IC embedded substrates using TDK's SESUB (Semiconductor Embedded SUBstrate) technology. 

ASE and TDK plan to own 51% and 49% of the new entity respectively. The joint venture, ASE Embedded Electronics, and its manufacturing facility is planned to be located in the Nantze Export Processing Zone, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan.

TDK developed its proprietary SESUB technology by harnessing TDK's signature technologies in ultrafine processing and materials. SESUB enables semiconductor chips to be thinned down to as low as 50 um and embedded in a four-layer plastic substrate, enabling miniaturisation by reducing the mounting area on substrates and a thinner profile. Other advantages include excellent thermal dissipation characteristics for greater design flexibility, and inter-chip connection that enhances electromagnetic interference (EMI) performance.

The planned 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 miniaturisation. ASE, a major player in system in package (SiP) technology, will use SESUB technology in its SiP solutions to enable applications such as power management integrated circuits (PMIC), sensors, and radio frequency tuners. 

"With the anticipated need for further miniaturisation and weight reduction of smartphones and wearable devices in the future, demand for semiconductors embedded in substrates, such as SESUBs, is expected to increase globally," says Takehiro Kamigama, CEO and President of TDK Corporation. "TDK has already 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."

"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," says Dr Tien Wu, COO, ASE Group. "We see this powerful alliance as an added value to the ASE SIP eco-system and together, catapulting TDK's SESUB technology into the forefront as an industry standard."

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).

*Kōfu is the capital city of Yamanashi Prefecture in Japan.