????CoWoS: The Future of Chipmaking and Taiwan’s Edge

The CoWoS A-Team: Taiwan's Secret AI Superweapon

A decade ago, chip-on-wafer-on-substrate technology, or CoWoS, was hardly known by the general public. Today, under the leadership of TSMC, this breakthrough has allowed Taiwanese packaging and equipment vendors to create the world’s most efficient advanced packaging supply chain, breaking the monopoly of global competitors. How has this invention made Taiwanese tech irreplaceable?

By I-yun (Elaine) Huang

The Expansion of the Packaging Sector Accelerates Throughout Taiwan

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is putting its full weight behind the expansion of its advanced packaging "CoWoS" facilities. From its phases one and two plants in Chiayi Science Park, part of Southern Taiwan Science Park, to Taichung's Houli, Chunghua's Erlin, Yunlin's Huwei and Douliu, and Kaohsiung's Dashe, TSMC's partners Siliconware Precision Industries and the ASE Group are also ramping up production throughout Taiwan.

Over the past two years, ASE's total expenditure neared NT$200 billion, a historic high.

In Yunlin's Huwei and Douliu, Siliconware is stepping up recruitment to bring young workers back to their hometowns. A youthful employee who has worked in nearby Mailiao opines that compared to the petrochemical industry, the semiconductor sector shows more potential for future growth and attractive employee benefits; this ultimately convinced him to change jobs.

TSMC Pushing "Foundry 2.0" and Driving Up CoWoS Demand

CoWoS has incredible market potential. According to a report by the Yole Group, the output value of advanced packaging surpassed that of conventional methods for the first time in 2025, to achieve a market share of 51.3%.

This technological breakthrough has everything to do with AI. The needs of high-end computing chips like NVIDIA GPUs have propelled CoWoS to new heights.?

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) has stated that demand for CoWoS is now four times what it was two years ago. Supply can hardly keep up. "Advanced packaging has never been so important," Huang said during his visit to Taiwan in January. This has fundamentally changed TSMC's revenue structure. In 2024, CoWoS-related sales constituted over 8% of total revenue. This number could become double digits in 2025. TSMC Chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) calls this the beginning of "Foundry 2.0". TSMC not only dominates the advanced manufacturing section of the process; now with CoWoS, it's also the leader in advanced packaging.?

Read the full article:

C Sun Forges Alliance to Tackle Advanced Packaging Technology: From PCB Ovens to Semiconductor Processing Equipment

By 鄧凱元

The Secret Behind TSMC’s CoWoS Packaging Technology

By Liang-Rong Chen

How the IC Market Is Being Shaped by Two Tsmc Wizzes

By Liang-Rong Chen

Podcast｜Taiwanology Ep.44

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