LG Innotek Focuses on 'FC-BGA'... President Jeong Cheol-dong Aims for "Market No.1"

FC-BGA Full-Scale Mass Production Scheduled for Second Half of the Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Pyeonghwa] LG Innotek is taking active steps to expand its business in the 'Flip Chip Ball Grid Array (FC-BGA)' substrate market. Following the launch of a new FC-BGA product, the company is accelerating the construction of a new factory to increase mass production in the second half of the year. It is also focusing on increasing its customer base through phased investments.

LG Innotek unveiled its new FC-BGA substrate product for the first time at CES 2023, the world's largest electronics and IT exhibition held this month. The FC-BGA substrate introduced by LG Innotek attracted attention on-site by achieving high integration, multi-layering, and large area through fine patterning and ultra-small via (circuit connection hole) technology. The adoption of digital transformation technology to minimize substrate warping caused by heat and pressure during the manufacturing process also drew notice.

Jung Cheol-dong, President of LG Innotek / Photo by LG Innotek

LG Innotek is also speeding up the construction of its new FC-BGA factory. The new FC-BGA factory will be located at the Gumi Plant 4, which LG Innotek acquired in June last year, covering approximately 220,000 square meters of total floor area. It will be a smart factory incorporating the latest digital transformation technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, with mass production scheduled for the second half of the year. LG Innotek expects that once mass production at the new factory is in full swing, it will strengthen its efforts to capture the global FC-BGA market.

LG Innotek succeeded in mass-producing FC-BGA substrates for network and modem use as well as digital TV applications in June last year and has been supplying products to customers. The initial mass production utilized the pilot production line at Gumi Plant 2. This achievement came just months after officially entering the market in February last year. LG Innotek explained that this success was due to the accumulation of technological expertise in the semiconductor substrate market for communications, which shares similar manufacturing processes and technologies with FC-BGA substrates.

LG Innotek FC-BGA Substrate Product / Photo by LG Innotek

LG Innotek is conducting promotions to secure global customers. Starting with an investment of 413 billion KRW in FC-BGA facilities and equipment last year, the company plans to continue phased investments. Jung Cheol-dong, President of LG Innotek, said, “FC-BGA substrates are the area where LG Innotek, which has led the substrate material market with global No.1 technology and productivity, can perform best,” adding, “We will create differentiated customer value and make FC-BGA a global No.1 business.”

FC-BGA is a semiconductor substrate that connects semiconductor chips to the main substrate. It is mainly used in central processing units (CPU) and graphics processing units (GPU), and demand is increasing due to improvements in semiconductor performance. According to data from Fuji Chimera Research Institute, the global FC-BGA substrate market size is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 9%, from $8 billion (approximately 9.88 trillion KRW) last year to $16.4 billion (approximately 20.254 trillion KRW) by 2030.