FOPLP is coming, and here are the plans for the major advanced packaging providers: · Powertech (PTI): 510 × 515 mm. Ramp-up: 2027 · $ASX: 310 × 310 mm. Ramp-up: 2027 · $TSM: 310 × 310 mm. Ramp-up: 2028 · Samsung: 415 × 510 mm. Ramp-up: 2028 · Rapidus: 600 × 600 mm. Ramp-up: 2029 · $AMKR: 650 × 650 mm. Ramp-up: 2028 · $INTC: 510/515 mm-class. Ramp-up: 2029

Taiwan Leads the FOPLP Race, Production Ramps Up Taiwan currently leads FOPLP, with PTI, $ASX and Innolux already in production · PTI: 510 × 515 mm · ASE: 310 × 310 mm · Innolux: 620 × 750 mm · TSMC: CoPoS pilot line, with mass production targeted for 2028 The main technical constraint is warpage and yield at larger panel sizes. Companies are using RDL stress balancing, CTE matching and stress-control films Innolux demonstrated a 10-layer RDL sample without warpage The longer-term shift is from glass as a temporary carrier to glass-core substrates with TGVs, creating demand for TGV drilling, metallization, inspection, handling and automation equipment · Intel: Started glass development early but faces a more complex process and glass-breakage challenges · Samsung: Using 415 × 510 mm panels and plans to outsource TGV glass. Mass production before 2030 appears unlikely · Japan: Rapidus targets 600 × 600 mm glass packaging in 2028, while AOI Electronics and Sharp are also developing glass packaging

Interesting presentation by $ASX tomorrow on FOPLP It’ll be interesting to see if they present any new benchmarks, particularly: · Cost per good package, panel vs. wafer · Final package yield · Panels per hour and packages per hour

Powertech ( is now calling FOPLP a revolution Makes me feel better about not being sensationalist It truly is a revolution in semis that’s still going under the radar for the masses

One industry I’m becoming much more bullish on is FOPLP I already have 2 plays, but I’m probably going to add more I find it crazy that nobody is really talking about it on X You have companies sold out through 2030, with revenue and orders growing at high double-digit and triple-digit rates across the industry It’s a matter of time before it becomes a retail favourite along memory, optics and neoclouds

Food giants seek rethink of red warning labels as SC hears FSSAI plan India’s proposed front-of-pack warning labels (FOPL) for packaged foods face another challenge from the food industry as the Supreme Court takes up the issue on Monday, with companies asking the court to reconsider the use of the colour red and questioning the thresholds proposed by the food regulator. The All India Food Processors Association (AIFPA), which represents several Indian and global food companies, has told the SC that the colour and symbol chosen for the warnings need to be reconsidered in the Indian context. More details: #FSSSAI# #FOPL# #AIFPA# #SupremeCourt#

Samsung (005930.KS) challenges $TSM production with Panel-Level-Packaging Samsung plans to bring its 415×510mm FOPLP platform into mass production around 2028, sticking with a significantly larger panel format than TSMC’s 310×310mm standard The larger Samsung panel offers 2.2× the usable area of a 310×310mm panel, potentially providing meaningful unit-cost advantages. Samsung also already has high-volume PLP manufacturing experience from mobile and wearable chips, giving it existing infrastructure and expertise in warpage control The challenge is moving the technology into AI server packaging, where integrating logic dies and HBM is considerably more difficult. TSMC also has an established advantage because its 310×310mm format has already attracted a large equipment, materials and OSAT ecosystem Samsung is also targeting glass-substrate mass production in 2029–2030 as package sizes increase and conventional ABF substrates face growing technical and supply constraints Perhaps most interestingly, Samsung is aggressively using AI in packaging R&D. Physics-Informed Neural Networks are being applied to signal integrity, power integrity and thermal simulations, reportedly reducing some engineering workflows from one year to a single day

Powertech ( emerges as a key advanced-packaging supplier for $AMD and $AVGO AMD and Broadcom have already booked most of Powertech’s planned FOPLP capacity, with mass production expected to begin by mid-2027. Capacity is projected to increase from 1,000 panels/month in 2026 to 2,000 by mid-2027 and 5,000 in 2028 Powertech expects total investment in the platform to reach NT$70B, while the initial pilot-line investment is expected to break even in 2027. Management expects FOPLP to become a major growth driver from 2027 onward Its PiFO platform uses panel-level RDL and silicon bridges to connect SoCs, ASICs, HBM and chiplets. Powertech says yields have already surpassed 90%, with a longer-term target of 95–99% Beyond FOPLP, Powertech is also expanding into TSV/3D IC stacking and optical engines/CPO, giving the company exposure to several of the fastest-growing areas of AI semiconductor packaging

Just some TLDR news I found interesting: 1. $GOOGL (missed this) also invested in Mediatek alongside $NVDA for their $3.9B raise. Google/Nvidia are goats with investments you look at $SPCX to Anthropic. 2. Samsung Electro-Mechanics discloses $778.9M MLCC deal / $CAPA (new MLCC ETF) also gives exposure now for folks without Korea/Japan/Taiwan market access. But thing is more accelerators x MLCCs per accelerator might indicate a more future extreme bottleneck than people expect. 3. China channel checks state: planetary roller screws, 6D force sensors, and dexterous hands resist domestic substitution. Then planetary roller screw as the top with lowest domestic substitution rate. eg. $SHA0.DE for planetary. Just interesting to hear moats I guess. 4. Samsung reportedly has ~70% of memory production capacity committed through 2031 / commodity DRAM has also fallen into short supply - Seoul Economic Daily. TrendForce expects server DRAM contract prices to rise 13-18% QoQ in 3Q26 SK Hynix also publicly stated the memory shortage lasts through 2030. 5. $CXMT has begun producing HBM3E in small quantities and reportedly claimed mass production of LPDDR6. Implications are even more positive for legacy DRAM shortages. 6. Cisco at SEMICON Taiwan said CPO is ready for mass deployment; pluggable modules will remain the market mainstay. $MRVL also said customers are actively planning scale-up optics deployments as early as 2027 7. Wingtech -> bought Nexperia -> Netherlands effectively removed Wingtech’s control -> Wingtech is fighting back through Chinese courts. But Nexperia got $300m of their assets frozen. More geopolitical drama of course, always entertaining. $AAPl also explicitly accused OpenAI of destroying crucial evidence... (for more fun) 8. Not much description around ASP hikes regarding SOI substrates $SOI, but they now have 10+ customers involved with LTAs, $200m revenue described as a "floor", comments about customers more concerned about obtaining wafers than where they are manufactured. So basically moving into capacity reservation now stages as silicon photonics takes off in 2027. 9. Some channel checks put lead times for high power MOSFETs and large area TVS diodes as high as ~52 weeks. ($STM also reportedly implemented its 3rd 2026 price increase on August 23) 10. Traditional packaging capacity could face a deficit exceeding 20% by 2027" with "wire bonding equipment" emerging as the primary bottleneck", covered this earlier this week with beneficiaries like 11. Claims that all six major ABF suppliers are booked for 2026, with 12-14 month lead times and some suppliers auctioning remaining capacity; $NVDA, $AMD and hyperscalers locking ABF capacity through 2028 and pushing suppliers to plan 2029–30 expansions. Names like Kinsus (3189), Unimicron (3037), Nan Ya PCB (8046), Ibiden (4062), etc are all probably happy. 12. CCL leading laminated board products increased by another 10%-20%, 7th price hike this year (eg. Kingboard). Industry estimates put the HVLP4 copper-foil shortage at ~48% in 2026 / 43% in 2027, while Low-Dk/T-Glass lead times have stretched beyond 30 weeks. 13. "(GaAs) substrate materials and gallium epitaxial source materials are also facing another round of price increases in the third quarter of 2026, reportedly 5 to 6 times higher than at the early stage of the restrictions." "China has recently eased some substrate export controls" but there's a "severe InP substrate shortage" per digitimes. Just some $AXTI related updates 14. $AMD and $AVGO reportedly booked most of Powertech's planned FOPLP capacity ahead of mid-2027 mass production 15. $INTC considering $INTC foundry for HBM4E base dies. But $SKHY responded directly that "some of the content is different from the facts". 16. "OpenAI Hoarding Tens Of Thousands Of $AAPL Mac mini and Mac Studio" for reinforcement learning. Anthropic has been renting mac mini units from $AMZN as well. Kinda sad Tim Cook retired, but dude had a goated run. Just random interesting notes

$MU $SKHY $TSM Custom ASICs matter more every year, and this year's SEMICON Taiwan makes the case louder than usual. Reportedly, CSPs aren't just attending anymore, they're the ones driving spec direction. Custom = Not Interchangeable. SEMICON Taiwan 2026: Highlights Global exhibitors: over 1,300 companies, 4,300 booths, drawing 65 countries and over 100,000 professionals National pavilions surged 250%, with 18 countries setting up 220 booths Cross sector collaboration: first ever partnership with Taiwan High Speed Rail linking semiconductors and transportation infrastructure CSP giants converge, full chain vertical integration Downstream customers and cloud service providers (CSPs like Google, Microsoft, NVIDIA, AMD, MediaTek, Foxconn) are driving spec direction Google's SVP of AI and Infrastructure, Amin Vahdat, delivers his first public keynote in Asia The semiconductor show and COMPUTEX's system side boundaries are increasingly merging, building an integrated ecosystem platform Startup momentum and capital access doubling 16 top startup teams featured, spanning advanced process, AI, silicon photonics, and test/measurement/quantum First time dedicated zones: "Chip Startup Stage" and "Innovation Investment Day" plus ecosystem partner events, accelerating commercialization and capital matching Frontier tech and new specialty zones debut AI advanced packaging: focus on 3DIC, CoWoS, FOPLP Silicon photonics (SiPh) and CPO: aligned with TSMC's production timeline, co packaged optics positioned as the core solution to CSP data center bandwidth and power walls Quantum technology zone Wafer smart manufacturing zone Sustainability and edge applications: SiC/GaN compound semiconductors and green process showcased