Taiwan-based Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., also known as Foxconn, has announced plans to invest in France's first advanced semiconductor packaging and testing facility using fan-out wafer-level packaging (FOWLP) technology. This move marks a significant step in Foxconn's global expansion and aligns with the growing industry shift toward fan-out packaging amid the post-Moore's Law era.

On May 19, Foxconn signed two cooperation agreements in France—one for semiconductors and one for space technology—with a total investment of approximately €250 million. The semiconductor venture will be a joint initiative with French firms Thales and Radiall to establish an outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) facility focused on FOWLP technology. Initially targeting the European market, the plant will serve industries including automotive, aerospace, 6G communications, and defense.

Foxconn emphasized that this will be the first FOWLP OSAT facility in Europe, enhancing the resilience of its global supply chain. French President Emmanuel Macron publicly welcomed the investment, calling it a positive milestone for France-Taiwan ties. The deal marks the second-largest Taiwanese investment in France, following ProLogium's €5.2 billion battery plant announcement last year.

In parallel, Foxconn and Thales also agreed to collaborate on satellite production, combining Thales' aerospace expertise with Foxconn's high-volume manufacturing capabilities to develop low-Earth orbit satellite systems.

FOWLP and its derivative, fan-out panel-level packaging (FOPLP), are increasingly viewed as critical enablers of next-generation chip integration. As traditional chip scaling nears physical limits, advanced packaging technologies like these are becoming essential for boosting performance, reducing size, and enabling heterogeneous integration.

While TSMC currently leads the market with its CoWoS packaging technology, industry players such as NVIDIA and AMD are exploring fan-out alternatives. FOWLP and FOPLP are gaining traction for their cost-efficiency and scalability. FOWLP, introduced by Infineon and popularized by TSMC's InFO for Apple's A10 chip in 2016, has been widely adopted in mobile and wearables and is now expanding into high-performance computing and automotive applications.

FOPLP extends FOWLP onto rectangular glass substrates, enabling larger package sizes and up to 30% cost savings due to better area utilization. Major players including TSMC, Samsung, ASE, Powertech, JCET, Tongfu Microelectronics, and Huatian Technology are actively investing in these technologies. For instance, ASE is building a new FOPLP production line in Kaohsiung, while Powertech was the first global OSAT to establish a FOPLP line and expects to expand output by 2026–2027.

Despite technical hurdles—such as narrower line widths and line spacing—FOPLP is seen as a rising star in advanced packaging. According to TrendForce, FOPLP mass adoption in AI GPUs and consumer ICs is projected between 2024 and 2028, depending on maturity and yield improvements.

As fan-out technologies gain traction, FOWLP is expected to dominate high-end packaging, while FOPLP drives broader adoption in cost-sensitive applications. Both are set to coexist and evolve, jointly fueling the future of heterogeneous integration in the post-Moore era. 

Foxconn’s entry into Europe’s advanced packaging landscape could signal a new phase of competition and regional diversification in the post-Moore era.