Hanmi targets advanced packaging market with FC Bonder 3.5 - digitimes

Hanmi Semiconductor's launch of the FC Bonder 3.5 represents a strategic expansion into advanced packaging, targeting the growing AI chip market. This move demonstrates the company's shift beyond trad... Read original →

Hanmi Semiconductor’s FC Bonder 3.5 launch signals a strategic pivot from legacy thermal compression tools to the core of advanced packaging. Technically, it accelerates adoption of 2.5D/3D integration in AI chips, forcing substrate suppliers to develop materials with tighter CTE control and compelling OSATs to reconfigure assembly lines. Geopolitically, tightening U.S. export controls on advanced packaging tools raise Hanmi’s compliance costs by 15–20% if reliant on American components, threatening supply chain resilience. Competitors like ASM Pacific and Besi will likely counter with aggressive pricing or bundled service packages, especially in HBM bonding. Over the next 18 months, as AI accelerators fully embrace chiplet architectures, capex for advanced packaging equipment will exceed 30% of wafer fab spending. Hanmi’s move is forward-looking—but without a localized supply chain by 2027, it risks marginalization in the high-end segment.