Taiwan’s chip packaging and testing industry, the world’s largest, saw revenue growth continue in 2022 as the combined revenue of its Top 10 firms hit a fresh record high.
Combined revenue rose 12.0% to NT$917.87 billion in 2022, from NT$819.93 billion a year earlier.
Growth in 2022 slowed from 19.1% in 2021, as the pandemic eased and people reined in spending on PCs, smartphones, flat screen TVs and other electronic devices. As these vital end markets for semiconductors slowed, demand for chips also pulled back.
Revenue among Taiwan’s Top 10 chip packaging and testing firms rose 101.8% between 2017 and 2022, for a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.36% per year.
Companies in the packaging and testing segment perform a vital function in the supply chain. They take the raw chips from the factories, test them to make sure they work, then package them in protective casings so they’re ready to be installed in smartphones and other gadgets.
Most people will never see a naked chip, which looks like this on a wafer. Each square on the wafer is one chip. There are thousands of them on these silicon wafers.
After they've been packaged, they look like this.
Chips have to be packaged because they’re so sensitive to pollutants. Even a tiny piece of dust can cause a malfunction.
Taiwan's chip packaging and testing industry is the second biggest in the world behind China.
ASE Technology Holding Co. Ltd. (ASE) is the biggest chip packaging and testing firm in the world and leads Taiwan's sector.
Taiwan's Top 10 Chip Packaging & Testing Firms By Revenue
Companies | 2022 Rank | 2022 Revenue | Change | 2021 Revenue | 2021 Rank |
ASE | 1 | NT$670.87 billion | 17.7% | NT$569.99 billion | 1 |
Powertech | 2 | NT$83.93 billion | 0.2% | NT$83.79 billion | 2 |
KYEC | 3 | NT$36.78 billion | 8.95% | NT$33.76 billion | 3 |
ChipBond | 4 | NT$24.01 billion | -11.3% | NT$27.08 billion | 5 |
ChipMOS | 5 | NT$23.52 billion | -14.2% | NT$27.40 billion | 4 |
Sigurd | 6 | NT$18.69 billion | 12.1% | NT$16.68 billion | 7 |
Greatek | 7 | NT$15.95 billion | -18.0% | NT$19.46 billion | 6 |
Orient Semi | 8 | NT$15.54 billion | -2.5% | NT$15.95 billion | 8 |
Ardentec | 9 | NT$14.50 billion | 21.6% | NT$11.93 billion | 10 |
Tong Hsing | 10 | NT$14.07 billion | -1.5% | NT$13.88 billion | 9 |
Total | | NT$917.87 billion | 11.95% | NT$819.93 billion | |
Powertech, No. 2 in Taiwan, specializes in memory chips, while its sister company, Greatek, performs logic chip work.
KYEC, at No. 3, is also a specialist, with the majority of its revenue from testing work, and only a small amount from packaging.
ASE’s share of Top 10 revenue, 73 percent, shows the size of the company compared to the rest of the industry in Taiwan. It dwarfs rivals.
Source: All 2022 revenue figures are from monthly sales totals for 2022 filed by each company to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. This Top 10 list only includes Taiwan-listed companies.