Advanced packaging technologies key for semiconductor innovation

According to Yole’s analyst, Kumar, the advanced packaging market should reach about $39bn in 2023.

The market research and strategy consulting company Yole, has released, its report, Status of the Advanced Packaging Industry. Kumar, with the help of the advanced packaging team at Yole, proposes today an impressive 2018 edition with key market trends, the description of technology evolution, a detailed analysis of the competitive landscape.

For the first time, this technology and market report includes a specific section dedicated to the advanced packaging technologies in the new semiconductor era. It offers a short term and long term outlook, with detailed roadmaps. It also details the impact of front-end scaling on advanced packaging. In addition Yole’s team points out the competitive landscape, with disruption and opportunities, detailed supply chain, production splits by manufacturers.

“This report is part of our key advanced packaging technology and market analyses,” asserted Emilie Jolivet, Director, Semiconductor & Software at Yole. “Thanks to this report, we built a strong reputation and became step by step one of the major consulting companies in this area.”

To highlight results of this new advanced packaging report, Yole has combined the release of this report with the interview of an advanced packaging player, Amkor Technology. OSATs clearly play a significant role in the evolution of the industry and Ron Huemoeller, Corporate Vice President, Head of WWRD & Technology Strategy and Christopher A. Chaney, IRC, Vice President, Investor Relations, both at Amkor Technology agreed to share their vision.

Between 2017 and 2023, the total packaging market’s revenue will grow at 5.2% CAGR. In parallel, over the same period, the advanced packaging market will grow at seven percent CAGR. On the other hand, the traditional packaging market will grow at a lower CAGR of 3.3%.

Of the different advanced packaging platforms, 3D TSV and fan-out will grow at rates of 29% and 15%, respectively. Flip-chip, which constitutes the majority of the advanced packaging market, will grow at CAGR of almost seven percent. Meanwhile, fan-in WLP will grow at a seven percent CAGR from 2017 to 2023, mainly led by mobile.

Kumar added: “Advanced packages will continue their important role of addressing high-end logic and memory in computing and telecom, with further penetration in analog and RF in high-end consumer/mobile segments.” All of this while eyeing opportunities in the growing automotive and industrial segments.

What’s happened in 2017? According to Yole, two advanced packaging roadmaps are foreseen: 

• Scaling: going to sub 10nm nodes. 
• And functional: staying above 20nm nodes.

In parallel, the semiconductor industry is developing products on both of them. Under this favourable context, advanced semiconductor packaging is seen as a way to increase the value of a semiconductor product, adding functionality, maintaining/increasing performance while lowering cost. 

Both roadmaps hold more multi-die heterogeneous integration including SiP and higher levels of package customisation in the future. A variety of multi-die packaging is developing in both high and low end, for consumer, performance and specialised applications. Heterogeneous integration has created opportunities for both the substrate and WLP based SiP. 

2017 also show the merger of three competitive areas that will continue to develop: PCB vs. substrate, substrate vs. Fan-Out and Fan-Out vs. 2.5D/3D. 

It will be difficult to repeat 2017 performances and Yole’s Semiconductor & Software team went further in its investigation this year again, to propose you today a comprehensive analysis of this evolution. Lot of questions are still pending and the Status of the Advanced Packaging industry will give you a deep understanding of the megatrends impacting this industry, the related business opportunities and technical innovations. 

Some of these results will be presented at IMPACT 2018 Conference - TPCA SHOW 2018 this week.