Exclusive Interview | Jan Vardaman: Advanced Packaging Is Not "Noodles"—China Enters a Critical Window Period
# Exclusive Dialogue | Jan Vardaman: Advanced packaging is not “instant noodles”, and China is entering a critical period **Key points:** Advanced packaging has evolved from a “back-end minor role” to a decisive factor in the AI computing power competition. From the imbalance in supply and demand for CoWoS, the industrialization bottlenecks of glass substrates, to the energy efficiency challenges of CPO, all aspects of the industry are being reshaped by AI demands. **Supply-demand pattern:** An unprecedented surge in demand occurred by the end of 2025, but capacity expansion has a time lag. TSMC, as the leader in back-end packaging, has fully expanded its production, but the demand curve does not rise linearly; it may level off by 2027. Therefore, balancing capacity expansion and risks is a key challenge. **CoWoS breakdown:** TSMC works with manufacturers such as Amkor and ASE to share the burden of capacity pressure. ASML has already made arrangements in the “wafer-on-substrate” segment and will take over some CoWoS tasks in the future. Ultimately, supply and demand will balance out, but high yield is a prerequisite. **Key to high yield:** Materials (such as Asahi Kasei C…