Samsung is preparing advanced packaging solutions SAINT

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Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) introduced its Chip-on-Wafer-on-Substrate (CoWoS) technology in 2012, a 2.5D packaging technique that enables the encapsulation of multiple smaller chips onto a single substrate. This technology boasts numerous advantages, but its primary benefits are space-saving, enhanced interconnectivity between chips, and reduced power consumption. In recent months, the surge in artificial intelligence (AI) tools, led by ChatGPT, has significantly increased the demand for NVIDIA’s A100 and H100 data center GPUs, both of which utilize the CoWoS packaging.

According to a report by The Korean Economic Daily, Samsung is gearing up to introduce its advanced packaging solution, dubbed SAINT (Samsung Advanced Interconnection Technology), poised to compete with TSMC’s CoWoS packaging. Samsung plans to offer three packaging technologies:

  • SAINT S – for vertically stacking SRAM memory chips with CPUs
  • SAINT D – for vertical packaging of core IPs like CPUs, GPUs, and DRAM
  • SAINT L – for stacking application processors (APs)

Samsung has already passed validation tests and, after further testing with clients, plans to expand its services later next year. The semiconductor market will undoubtedly benefit from the entry of a new player in the advanced packaging arena. TSMC currently provides CoWoS packaging services to clients like NVIDIA and AMD, reaping substantial profits. As many companies shift from single-chip to chiplet designs, advanced packaging emerges as a new direction. This has prompted TSMC to continually increase the production capacity of its CoWoS packaging to meet market demands.

Samsung’s “SAINT” advanced packaging solution aims to capture market share from competitors. However, it remains to be seen whether major clients like NVIDIA will be satisfied with the technology offered by Samsung. There have been reports that Samsung’s ambitions extend beyond packaging orders. They are also aiming to secure a portion of the HBM3 orders, with rumors suggesting an agreement with AMD to provide HBM3 and packaging technology for the upcoming Instinct MI300 series.

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