Intel EMIB-T targets CoWoS customers with lower packaging costs

Intel’s advanced packaging push is gaining attention from external customers for Intel Foundry, with EMIB positioned as a lower-cost alternative to TSMC’s CoWoS. Embedded Multi-die Interconnect Bridge supports 2D, 2.5D, and 3D building blocks, letting chip designers optimize cost, power, and bandwidth at the system level.

EMIB uses a substrate-embedded silicon bridge to provide localized, high-density die-to-die routing while avoiding the cost and area demands of a full-size silicon interposer. Variants include EMIB-M with embedded MIM capacitors and EMIB-T with TSVs, supporting logic-to-logic and logic-to-HBM connections. EMIB-T allows ASICs to access power connections directly, enabling a massive, multi-kilowatt solution on a single package.

Intel is currently ramping regular EMIB and Foveros for customers, while EMIB-T is expected to reach high-volume production in 2027, according to Taiwan’s Unimicron. ASIC designers including Broadcom and Meta are reportedly considering a move from CoWoS to EMIB to cut costs while retaining similar benefits and potentially gaining additional features. The price gap between EMIB-T and CoWoS can be as much as 50%, depending on whether an expensive interposer is needed.