(Lee Yun-sik)
Hana Micron Inc., South Korea’s top outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) company, is expanding advanced chip packaging to strengthen its global presence amid rising demand driven by artificial intelligence (AI).
During a recent visit by Maeil Business to the company’s plant in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, a company official said the facility is equipped with both flip-chip and wire bonding lines, core technologies for electrical interconnection in chip packaging.
The packaging process typically includes wafer processing, chip attachment, electrical interconnection and molding. Wafers are thinned, cut into individual chips and mounted on printed circuit boards before being electrically connected and sealed with materials such as epoxy molding compound to protect against external shock.
Wire bonding, the most widely used interconnection method, uses gold wire to link chips and substrates. Equipment resembling a sewing machine stitches the wire between the chip and the board, with microscopes enabling precise inspection.
Flip-chip, a higher-performance method, mounts chips directly onto substrates using solder bumps that enable faster signal transmission, lower power loss and reduced heat generation.
Rising demand for back-end semiconductor processes—where interconnection efficiency, power consumption and heat management are critical—has boosted Hana Micron’s performance.
In 2025, the company posted record revenue of 1.53 trillion won ($1.04 billion) last year, up 22.7 percent from a year ago, and operating profit of 127.7 billion won, up 19.6 percent.
It is now shifting toward higher-value products, expanding advanced offerings in memory while moving into fabless and system semiconductor packaging.
At its Asan plant, which handles Samsung Electronics Co.’s system and memory chip volumes, the system semiconductor segment is posting solid growth alongside the core memory business. Industry officials point to rising packaging and testing demand from Samsung Electronics Co.’s foundry and fabless customers.
At its Bac Giang plant in Vietnam, which handles SK hynix Inc.’s memory back-end processes, Hana Micron is increasing the share of higher-value products such as DDR5 and enterprise solid-state drives. DDR5, the latest generation of DRAM, is widely used in data centers and high-performance AI servers.
Competition in the global OSAT market remains intense. Taiwan’s ASE Technology Holding Co., U.S.-based Amkor Technology Inc. and China’s JCET Group Co. dominate the sector, supported by early commercialization of advanced packaging technologies and strong system semiconductor customer bases. Foundries are also developing in-house packaging capabilities.
Hana Micron ranks about eighth globally and is targeting a top-five position by 2030. It raised research and development spending to 48.9 billion won last year from 30 billion won in 2023, focusing on next-generation technologies such as 3D packaging.
The company plans to complete development of 2.5D packaging by year-end and begin commercialization next year. The technology, which links graphics processing units with high-bandwidth memory, is designed to cut packaging costs while improving signal transmission and power distribution.
Despite Samsung Electronics’ in-house capabilities, Hana Micron is accelerating development to capture high-value orders beyond foundry capacity.
“We will expand our portfolio of high-value products, including large-body packages and advanced packaging, to support sustained growth,” said Kim Dong-hyun, the company’s chief operating officer.
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