May 29, 2012 — Growth in handheld, Internet-connected electronic devices — smartphones and tablets — and resurgent automotive demand are increasing IC demand. In turn, increased demand for product functionality is driving up IC packaging revenue faster — a 9.8% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) — than IC unit growth — 7.3% CAGR 2010-2016, says New Venture Research (NVR).

Figure. IC device and packaging revenue forecast ($M), 2010-2016. SOURCE: New Venture Research.

Handheld electronics will boost the growth of special purpose logic (SPL) communications chips by 16.7% CAGR revenue through 2016, versus 3.5% CAGR in units. Packages for mobile components are dominated by field-programmable gate array (FPGA) and quad flat-pack no-lead (QFN) designs. These 2 package structures are at opposite ends of the pricing structure. The third most popular packaging type, quad flat pack (QFP), is decreasing in usage over time. These devices are expected to have a 14.8% CAGR in revenue through 2016.

Wireless infrastructure products are also in high demand, which is helping boost consumption for standard cell and programmable logic device (PLD) chips. These devices will grow at a CAGR of 16.1% in terms of revenue through 2016, while the device units are projected at 15%. High I/O BGAs are the package of choice over the forecast period — package revenue growth is projected to be slightly higher, at 16.3% CAGR through 2016.

Logic chips are in demand for a host of products, pushing 32-bit MCUs to an 11.1% CAGR unit demand, although only 4.7% device revenue CAGR, through 2016. QFPs and ball grid arrays (BGAs) are the highest-demand package designs for these chips, although the QFP is waning in favor of the BGA. Thus, the package revenue is growing at a CAGR of 12.8% through 2016 for 32-bit MCUs.

This information is included in the newly released report