Wafer probe testing to surpass supply in March 2010

TAIPEI: Fei-Jain Wu, chairman of Chipbond Technology Corporation, the driver IC backend company based in Taiwan, has predicted that the demand for wafer probe testing will surpass supply in March 2010.

According to Fei-Jain Wu, a similar situation may happen in the chip-on-film (COF) sector, which is a mainstream packaging process for large-size panels, in the second half of 2010.

The longer delivery time for new tools as well as current equipment upgrades are likely to disrupt the production schedules of backend suppliers in 2010. While the demand for notebook and TV panels is increasing, some driver IC design firms are struggling to get backend services owing to the constraints in supply.

IDMs based in Japan, including NEC and Renesas Technology, raised their outsourcing to driver IC backend firms based in Taiwan since the second quarter of 2009, according to Fei-Jain Wu. This was done in an effort to minimise the impact of a stronger yen.

Chipbond Technology Corporation has estimated its average rate of utilization at 95 per cent in the first quarter. The order visibility has been extended to April 2010.

Chipbond Technology Corporation is set to complete its merger with International Semiconductor Technology (IST) on June 1, 2010. The merged company is expected to become the world’s biggest packaging and testing service provider for LCD driver ICs.