Malaysia invests over US$45mil to drive advanced chip packaging

Arya News - The Malaysia Advanced Packa­ging Consortium (MAPC), led by the Science, Technology and Inno­vation Ministry, brings together five local companies to build domestic capability in advanced packaging.

PETALING JAYA – Malaysia is investing RM185mil in a new semiconductor project to move local players beyond basic assembly and testing into advanced chip packaging used in artificial intelligence (AI), data centres and high-performance computing.
The Malaysia Advanced Packa­ging Consortium (MAPC), led by the Science, Technology and Inno­vation Ministry, brings together five local companies to build domestic capability in advanced packaging.
The Malaysia Science Endow­ment will contribute RM92mil while the industry will match it with RM93mil.
Science, Technology and Inno­vation Minister Datuk Chang Lih Kang (pic) said Malaysia must move up the semiconductor value chain to remain compe­titive.
“Semiconductor plays a pivotal role in Malay­sia’s economy. Besides oil and gas, semi­conductor is one of the biggest exports.
“Right now, we are strong in the back end, especially in Outsourced Semi­conductor Assembly and Test.
“But countries like Vietnam are catching up very fast. That is why we need to move beyond traditional packaging and into advanced packaging,” he said in an interview.
Advanced packaging allows multiple chips and memory stacks to be integrated in one compact unit, a key requirement for power­ful AI processors, graphics chips and high-performance servers.
Through MAPC, Malay­sia aims to demonstrate that local companies can take on a larger portion of the semi­conductor value chain from design to packaging, testing and equipment support.
The project’s main target is a made-in-Malaysia proof-of-concept for a High Bandwidth Memory 4 (HBM4) test chip, a type of ultra-fast memory used in advanced AI and graphics systems.
“In the past, we were mainly doing assembly and test for other people’s designs.
“With this consortium, we want our companies to show they can go from design to advanced packa­ging and testing.
“It is about proving we can do the full job, not just the lower-­value steps,” Chang said.
Under the consortium, SkyeChip Sdn Bhd will lead the design and development of the HBM4 test chip while FusionAP Sdn Bhd will produce proof-of-concept silicon samples using a Gen1.5 interposer, a key substrate used to connect memory and logic dies in advanced chip architectures.
Inari Technology Sdn Bhd will set up an advanced packaging proof-of-concept line to support processes such as flip-chip ball grid array, 2.5D system-in-­package, chiplet integration and heterogeneous integration.
Pentamaster Instrumentation Sdn Bhd will develop testing and inspection equipment, including final-circuit testing and three-­dimensional X-ray inspection systems for densely stacked packa­ges.
NSW Automation Sdn Bhd will build equipment for dispensing and assembly, thermal compression bonding, wafer-level underfill and wafer bonding and debonding.
Chang said the commercial goal is to help Malaysian companies secure higher-value semiconductor work from global players.
He said by 2035, Malaysia aims to capture about 7% of the global advanced packaging market, estimated at around US$5bil.
“If we can prove that Malaysia has the capability, it will help our companies secure orders from the big multinationals for advanced packaging, not just ­legacy products.”