Taiwan OSATs expand non-China capacity with US and SEA push

Surging global AI chip demand is forcing Taiwan, China’s OSATs to reconfigure their geopolitical footprint. Technically, advanced packaging like CoWoS and FOPLP demands ultra-clean environments and tightly integrated material supply chains—overseas fabs will inflate yield ramp costs and delay HBM3e rollout. Compliance-wise, U.S. CHIPS Act 'guardrails' and Southeast Asia’s local sourcing mandates compel costly overhauls of logistics and certification, lifting operating expenses by 15–20%. Strategically, ASE’s aggressive U.S. expansion pressures Amkor’s North American IDM relationships, while JCET risks losing its #3 global rank to KYEC if geopolitical barriers persist. Within 18 months, maintaining >40% non-China capacity will become a survival threshold for Taiwan-based OSATs—reshaping cost structures and accelerating R&D shifts toward package-system co-design.