At the 2025 Advanced Packaging Developers Conference, IK Shim, Chief Technology Officer of STATS ChipPAC, set the tone for the year ahead with a simple but powerful observation: the biggest challenge in semiconductors isn’t inventing something new—it’s making that invention manufacturable and scalable.
That message captures the crossroads the industry now faces. Breakthroughs in AI and high-performance computing are coming faster than ever, yet the bottleneck has shifted from raw innovation to the hard work of industrialization. Prototypes and proofs of concept are valuable, but they don’t transform markets until they can be built at scale, at the right cost, and with consistent quality.
Why this matters now
– AI and HPC workloads demand unprecedented compute density, memory bandwidth, and energy efficiency.
– Traditional transistor scaling is slowing, pushing more value creation into packaging and system-level innovation.
– Time-to-market is shrinking as competition intensifies, putting pressure on yield, throughput, and supply chain robustness.
The new battleground: from lab to fab
Turning a clever idea into millions of reliable units means solving a tough set of intertwined problems across design, materials, equipment, and operations. In advanced packaging—especially 2.5D/3D integration and chiplet-based systems—those problems become even more complex. Interconnect density, thermal performance, power delivery, and reliability all intersect at the package level. The winners will be companies that optimize across the entire stack, not just at a single node or layer.
What “scalable reality” looks like for advanced packaging
– Design-for-manufacturability: Co-optimizing architecture, layout, and packaging early in the design cycle to hit yield and performance targets without endless spins.
– Standardized interfaces: Embracing interoperable chiplet interconnects and known-good-die strategies to reduce integration risk and accelerate assembly.
– High-density interconnects: Moving from micro-bumps to hybrid bonding and advanced redistribution layers to push bandwidth while controlling resistance and thermal impact.
– Thermal and power integrity: Integrating heat spreaders, advanced TIMs, and robust power delivery networks to keep performance predictable under real workloads.
– Material and process control: Managing warpage, CTE mismatch, contamination, and fine-line RDL variability across wafers and panels.
– Test at scale: Building efficient strategies for pre-bond, mid-bond, and post-bond testing to protect yield without bloating cost or cycle time.
– Equipment readiness: Ensuring the tools, metrology, and automation needed for ultra-fine pitch and 3D stacking are production-proven, not just lab-capable.
– Supply chain resilience: Securing material availability, second-sourcing critical steps, and aligning partners around capacity plans well before demand surges.
Why advanced packaging is central to AI and HPC
– Memory proximity and bandwidth: Co-locating compute with high-bandwidth memory and shortening interconnects drive massive gains in throughput and latency.
– Heterogeneous integration: Mixing process nodes and specialized chiplets allows right-sizing compute, I/O, and accelerators without monolithic die risk.
– Performance per watt: Shorter signal paths and optimized thermal designs translate to better energy efficiency, a critical metric in data centers and edge deployments.
– Faster iteration: Modular, chiplet-based approaches can accelerate product cycles—if the assembly, test, and qualification steps are robust and repeatable.
The role of OSATs and ecosystem collaboration
Outsourced assembly and test providers sit at the crossroads of this transformation. They translate design intent into manufacturable packages and scale those packages into reliable products. Success now hinges on close collaboration: chip designers, foundries, equipment vendors, materials suppliers, and OSATs must align early, share process windows, and commit to standards that reduce friction during integration.
Metrics that matter for scaling innovation
– Yield per start and yield learning velocity
– Interconnect density achieved at production-level defectivity
– Thermal resistance and power delivery headroom under worst-case workloads
– Time-to-qualification and first-pass success rates
– Cost per function and cost per bit of bandwidth
– Field reliability and RMA trends over sustained volume
What comes next
The industry’s next chapter will be defined by how quickly it can turn promising architectures and packaging techniques into high-volume, high-yield products. That means doubling down on system-level co-optimization, accelerating standards for chiplet ecosystems, and investing in equipment and metrology that are ready for ultra-fine pitches and 3D integration.
IK Shim’s opening message is a timely reminder. In semiconductors, the idea is only the beginning. The real breakthrough happens when the idea survives the factory—when it can be built consistently, at scale, and at a cost that unlocks widespread adoption. For AI and HPC, that’s the difference between a roadmap and a revolution.
