By Li Panpan

(JW Insights) Aug 14 -- Packaging equipment market is a new hot track for the Chinese listed semiconductor suppliers and startups to move in as the domestic substitution trend deepens and packaging technology advances, according to a recent article by JW Insights. More than 15 A-share listed companies are active in this market.

Chen Yuenan, director of JW Insights' consulting division, said that advanced packaging is driving the innovation of packaging and testing equipment, and domestic packaging equipment is expected to take this opportunity to achieve better development.

The listed packaging equipment makers include Nextool Technology, Skyverse, Liande Automation Equipment, Han's Laser, Shenkeda Semiconductor, NAURA Technology, ACM Research, Kingsemi, QUICK Intelligent Equipment, GKG Precision, JT Automation Equipment, Wenyi Trinity Technology, Xinyichang Technology, Bojay Electronics, GL Technology.

In addition, with the favor of capital investors, many start-ups have emerged in the field of packaging equipment, including Heyan Technology, Techsense, Sand Tech, Biaopu Semiconductor, Haye Semiconductor, and ACCURACY. Those with potential market breakthroughs are seeking listing counseling.

The technical barriers for the packaging and testing fields are relatively low, with fewer international restrictions and the smallest gap with the advanced international level.

However, the localization rate of packaging and testing equipment is far lower than that of other fields like wafer manufacturing equipment.

Although packaging equipment is critical in the semiconductor industry, its overall market size is relatively small. SEMI forecasts that packaging equipment sales will decline by 20.5% to $4.6 billion in 2023 due to weak demand.

Japanese and European manufacturers have dominated the global semiconductor packaging equipment market. Chinese manufacturers concentrate on the LED field, which does not require high performance, and some are gradually extending to the field of discrete devices. Still, the localization rate in the IC packaging market in China is only about 5%.

Chippacking Technology (气派科技) said the localization production rate of the front-end packaging equipment is not high. The wafer thinning, cutting, and bonding equipment are all imported, and a small part of the wafer loading equipment is in trial use. Back-end equipment is with higher localization rate, and there is domestic-produced equipment in plastic sealing, printing, and testing.

Hisemi Electronics(华宇电子) said its equipment is mainly imported from suppliers like Tokyo Precision, DISCO, KS, ASM, and other internationally renowned manufacturers. They are used primarily in wafer thinning, cutting, bonding, and other processes crucial to production and operation.

HT Technology (华天科技) has clarified that it has promoted the localization of materials and equipment as a strategy and actively cooperates with domestic materials and equipment companies to promote the verification and procurement of domestic-made materials and equipment.

At the same time, the semiconductor packaging and testing industry is transitioning from traditional to advanced packaging and testing technologies, a key direction for global semiconductor manufacturers. In recent years, domestic and international companies have increased their advanced packaging projects, and the demand for advanced packaging equipment has proliferated.

However, advanced packaging technologies and equipment represented by FlipChip, redistribution layer (RDL), through silicon via(TSV), bump, and others are still heavily dependent on imports.

Currently, the trend of localization of semiconductor equipment is unstoppable. The participation of many manufacturers accelerates the process. Shortly, more and more domestic packaging equipment will appear on the chip packaging production line.