According to industry insights released by TrendForce, in 2025, with the rapid development of artificial intelligence technology and the continuous pursuit of high-performance computing, the semiconductor industry will usher in a new round of technological innovation and market demand growth. Breakthroughs in advanced process technology and the wide application of advanced packaging technologies such as CoWoS will become the two major engines to promote the development of the semiconductor industry.
Semiconductor technology innovation
Breakthrough in advanced processes: 2025 is an important node in the development of advanced processes. TSMC expects to achieve mass production of the 2nm process in the second half of 2025, marking its transition from a FinFet architecture to a GAA (Total Gate Surround) architecture. Samsung also plans to launch the 2nm process in 2025 and launch multiple versions in the coming years to meet the needs of high-performance computing in different fields. Intel's 1.8nm process (Intel 18A) will also reach mass production in 2025. These breakthroughs in advanced processes will bring higher performance and lower power consumption to semiconductor chips, providing strong technical support for high-performance computing fields such as AI.
Applications of new materials: Fourth-generation semiconductor materials such as gallium oxide (Ga2O3) and aluminum nitride (AlN) will show greater potential in 2025. These new materials have higher electron mobility, lower power consumption and better heat dissipation performance, which will promote the application of semiconductor devices in high-frequency, high-power and other fields, and further improve the performance and application range of semiconductor technology.
Figure: Driven by advanced manufacturing processes and AI, the demand for semiconductor technology and CoWoS has ushered in innovation and significant growth
Demand for CoWoS grows
The promotion of AI computing chips: The rapid development of AI technology has increased the demand for high-performance computing chips, and CoWoS, as an advanced packaging technology, can stack multiple chips on the same silicon interposer to realize the interconnection of multiple chips. For example, NVIDIA's GPU products use CoWoS packaging technology in large numbers, and it accounts for more than 50% of TSMC's CoWoS production capacity. With the release of a new generation of GPUs by companies such as Nvidia, the demand for CoWoS technology has risen dramatically.
Increasing demand for HBM memory: High-performance computing and AI applications are increasingly demanding memory bandwidth, and the demand for HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) as a high-performance memory solution is also growing. HBM requires 2.5D advanced packaging technologies such as CoWoS to achieve this, so the surge in demand for HBM has further exacerbated the shortage of CoWoS packaging. Global demand for CoWoS and similar packages is expected to grow by 113% by 2025, which will drive the rapid development and adoption of CoWoS technology.
Market outlook
Growing market size: With the continuous development of advanced processes and CoWoS technology, the size of the semiconductor market will continue to expand. It is estimated that by 2025, the global semiconductor market will reach 687 billion US dollars, and the size of China's advanced packaging market will exceed 110 billion yuan. This will bring more development opportunities and market space for the semiconductor industry.
Technology development trend: CoWoS technology will continue to develop in a more advanced direction, for example, CoWoS-L combines the advantages of CoWoS-S and InFO technology, using an interposer layer to interconnect with LSI chips between chips, and using RDL layers for power and signal transmission, providing more flexible integration and higher electrical performance. In addition, the integration of advanced packaging technology with other technologies, such as the integration of CPO and advanced packaging technology, will further promote the sustainable development of the semiconductor industry.
In 2025, the semiconductor industry will usher in new development opportunities driven by advanced processes and AI technology. The growing demand for advanced packaging technologies such as CoWoS will further accelerate the innovation of semiconductor technology and the expansion of the market. Enterprises need to keep up with the development trend of technology and increase R&D investment to occupy a favorable position in the fierce market competition and jointly promote the prosperity and development of the semiconductor industry.
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