One measure of how tight memory packaging has become is that a supplier will take back a partner it walked away from.
SK hynix has restarted flip-chip packaging work with WINPAC, The Elec reported on September 29, four years after the two stopped dealing with each other. A-PROTECH was already handling outsourced volume; WINPAC is now a second outlet.
The partner’s Korean site packages DRAM, NAND flash and embedded storage, and its monthly output has been expanded since the contract was signed.
This was once a deep relationship. WINPAC began taking outsourced packaging in 2002 and moved into flip-chip work in 2019, at one point drawing most of its revenue from that single customer.
It came apart when WINPAC accepted an order from a rival memory maker and could not keep both accounts served. Volumes were trimmed, and the tie ended during the 2023 industry slump.
The years that followed were brutal. Utilization fell to roughly a fifth of capacity and the company piled up operating losses above KRW 60B. It responded with asset sales, job cuts and debt repayment, and posted a monthly operating profit in March for the first time in years.
Forecasters now expect revenue to climb well above the KRW 110B level, a sharp rebound from the prior year, helped by a rise in test work.
