Interview with Spirox: The Growth of The Semiconductor Market

Interview Background

As one of the most important business partners of ERS electronic GmbH, Spirox Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd, which delivers quality integrated solutions and services for the global high-tech industry, will also exhibit at the SEMICON China 2021 (Spirox’s Booth N3-3431). As the exhibition is approaching, we decided to catch up with Max Chen (GM of Semiconductor Manufacturing B.G.) and Michael Ho (Acting Sales Director of Semiconductor Manufacturing B.G.) from Spirox, to talk about their journey with ERS, their plans for the future, and their outlook on the semiconductor industry in China.

 

When Spirox met ERS electronic

“We met ERS electronic GmbH at SEMICON Japan in 2018,” says Max Chen, GM of Semiconductor Manufacturing B.G. With more than 20 years of experience in the semiconductor industry, Mr. Chen believed that ERS electronic’s unique customized Thermal chuck technology could meet the wide variety of wafer testing requirements in the semiconductor market, ranging from thermal testing, anti-magnetic, ultra-low noise, to high voltage/current testing. “Customer-driven” and “Uncompromised excellence in all disciplines” have always been the innovation philosophy of ERS electronic, which has helped maintain ERS electronic’s consistent leadership in the thermal wafer probing industry.

“Combining Spirox’s influence in the greater China market with ERS electronic 50 years of accumulated know-how, we are thrilled to see that more and more Chinese customers choose ERS electronic as their reliable thermal solutions provider,” said Mr.Chen

Our Vice President Joshua Zhou together with General Manager of Spirox Max Chen at Semicon China
Growing together

During the interview, Mr. Chen gave some insight into the current situation of the semiconductor industry in China. “Although the technology gap exists, China is undoubtedly the fastest growing market in the world, especially in packaging and testing, which are Spirox’s and ERS’s fields of expertise.”

In 2008, by leveraging decades of experience in thermal management, ERS electronic launched the first thermal debonding and warpage correction tool for Fan-out Advanced Packaging devices. Since then, the company has continued to drive innovation in the Fan-out space by supporting different wafer formats (300/330mm) and panels (max. 650x650mm). Through the debonding machine development, ERS electronic invented the patented TriTemp®slide, which eliminates any handling-induced warpage during debond and also reduces the overall warpage down to few mm. “Thanks to this technology, it not only solved the problems that have plagued our customers but also helped them reduce their production cost,” commented Mr. Chen.

Michael Ho, acting Sales Director of Semiconductor Manufacturing B.G., agreed with Mr. Chen’s statement: “Partnering with ERS electronic allows us to provide the cutting-edge technologies to our clients, and which enables us to win new customers”. While ERS electronic has established itself in the China market, Spirox has also expanded its business into the space of probe stations and sorting machines. In 2019, they established a local packaging team and started to invest in third-party testing labs. Currently, Spirox is developing its own testers.

 

What are the opportunities?

With the release of its semiconductor policy in MADE in China 2025, the Chinese government is expecting to develop an independent semiconductor industry to meet the nation’s growing demand. Mr. Chen predicts that Spirox will receive more orders from domestic prober manufactures in the future. Therefore, he emphasized the importance of having a localized technical team. “We are pleased to see that the ERS electronic Greater China team has evolved from being a one-person office to a sales and technical service team with experienced talents. Being able to provide 24-hour on-site support to customers is a big selling point” Mr. Chen says.

At the end of the interview, Mr. Chen revealed that they plan to attend the China Semiconductor Packaging and Test Market & Technology Annual Conference (CSPT) this year, which is one of the biggest and most prominent testing and packaging conferences in China. This means the attendees will have the opportunity to witness Spirox and ERS electronic together once again. But first, we are both getting ready to exhibit at SEMICON China 2021. See you there!

 

About Spirox
Spirox Corporation (TWSE: 3055) is a professional semiconductor testing and packaging solution provider in the Great China. Partnered with worldwide leading suppliers, including AFORE, ERS, Hamamatsu, NI, SEMICS, ShibaSoku, TASMIT, Toray Engineering, Turbodynamics, YIKC, Zeiss, etc., Spirox provides various integreaed solutions to fulfill customer needs in testing, packaging, inspection and verification in semiconductor industry. VESP, one of Spirox subsidiaries, serves the semiconductor industry with certified IC verification engineering service, RA hardware manufacturing, and automotive functional safety certification service. Founded in 1987, Spirox is headquartered in Hsinchu, Taiwan, with additional services branches in Kaohsiung, Shanghai, Hefei, Suzhou, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Beijing and Chengdu. For more information, please visit www.spirox.com.

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