Amkor Technology, Inc. and GlobalFoundries (GF) have made official their strategic partnership in Europe. Particularly, the two companies have commenced Amkor’s Porto facility in Portugal.

Since February 2023, GF has transferred 50 tools from its Dresden site to Amkor in Porto. In addition, its first customer products have already been qualified on the newly installed GF tools.

The new partnership between the two companies redefines the landscape of semiconductor manufacturing. Thus, enabling a first comprehensive EU supply chain — from semiconductor wafer production at GF to OSAT services at Amkor. To facilitate this collaboration, GF is transferring its 300mm Bump (12-inch bump, CuP and plated bump) and Sort lines from its Dresden site to Amkor’s IATF 16949 certified Porto plant. Hence, this will establish the first at-scale back-end facility in Europe.

Expands Manufacturing Scale

This key strategic partnership between Amkor and GF positions them to aid the European Union in its drive toward automotive semiconductor manufacturing regionalization. Most importantly, Amkor has global footprint and strong European presence combined while GF has the tools, processes, and know-how. This will enable the Porto site to help the European Union to pursue its goals of ensuring supply chain stability. Moreover, to deliver the next-generation automotive and other critical chip solutions.

“Amkor has more than 40 years of automotive expertise and is IATF-certified across seven countries around the world,” said Kevin Engel, Amkor’s executive vice president, Business Units. In addition, Engel said, “Amkor brings the scale and expertise of its global advanced packaging footprint to this exciting collaboration. Our partnership with GlobalFoundries signals our common goal to stabilize a robust and resilient European automotive supply chain.”

“GF Dresden is Europe’s largest and most advanced semiconductor manufacturer and Amkor is the only Tier 1 OSAT in Europe,” said Dr. Manfred Hortsmann, GlobalFoundries’ senior vice president and general manager of European Fabs. “Together, we enable one of the most robust chip supply chains outside of Asia, creating a more resilient European supply chain for key end markets including automotive.”

Amkor’s collaboration with GF represents a significant stride in the expansion of offerings and overall footprint in Portugal. Amkor also recently broke ground on a new factory expansion in Porto to deepen its commitment to supporting local supply chains and global customers.