Category Archives: Packaging

GLOBALFOUNDRIES today announced that Arbe Robotics has selected GF’s 22FDX® process for its groundbreaking patented imaging radar that will achieve fully automated system capabilities and enable safer driving experiences for autonomous vehicles.

Arbe Robotics’ radar is the first in the world to show real-time 1 degree resolution and provide the required enhancements for sensors and ADAS technologies. Arbe’s goal is to build a sensing system with high resolution and zero false alarms, so vehicles will be able to make decisions relying exclusively on the data provided by the radar. Leveraging GF’s 22FDX FD-SOI technology, the new chipset is increasing the amount of transmitting and receiving channels on a chip and allowing for better integration to Arbe’s proprietary processor.

The rise of autonomous driving is changing the automobile semiconductor market, which is expected to grow to an estimated $54 billion by 2023. This is driven by a need for new technologies that promise to enhance the driving experience, such as 360-degree surround view monitoring, which requires high resolution and long-range capabilities. GF’s 22FDX process provides the superior RF performance, power consumption, low noise, and high digital density to increase range and improve resolution for these applications.

As the first company to demonstrate ultra-high-resolution at a wide field of view, Arbe Robotics’ radar technology can detect pedestrians and obstacles at a range of 300 meters, in any weather and lighting conditions. The processor creates a full 3D shape of the objects and their velocity, and classifies targets using their radar signature.

“Arbe Robotics’ imaging radar is optimized for providing a real-time 4D picture of the environment at ultra high resolution,” said Kobi Marenko, CEO of Arbe Robotics. “The collaboration with GF is a significant step towards archiving the high-performance level required for autonomous driving safety. With over a decade of automotive industry experience, GF’s 22FDX delivers a performance on-demand, energy-efficient solution for our current and future radar technology needs.”

“The trend of autonomous driving is progressing rapidly, and with it is the need for high-resolution radar. The future will rely on a mix of real-time maps, advanced navigation software, and live data from vehicle sensors,” said Mark Granger, vice president of automotive at GF. “That’s why GF is pleased Arbe Robotics has chosen our 22FDX platform, together bringing valuable attributes that support the explosive growth of the autonomous driving industry.”

GF’s 22FDX platform is a part of the company’s AutoPro™ solutions, which provides customers with additional access to manufacturing services that support the full range of AEC-Q100 quality grades from Grade 2 to Grade 0 to minimize certification efforts and speed time-to-market.

Research included in the recently released 50-page April Update to the 2018 edition of IC Insights’ McClean Report shows that in 2017, the top eight major foundry leaders (i.e., sales of ≥$1.0 billion) held 88% of the $62.3 billion worldwide foundry market (Figure 1).  The 2017 share was the same level as in 2016 and one point higher than the share the top eight foundries represented in 2015.  With the barriers to entry (e.g., fab costs, access to leading edge technology, etc.) into the foundry business being so high and rising, IC Insights expects this “major” marketshare figure to remain at or near this elevated level in the future.

TSMC, by far, was the leader with $32.2 billion in sales last year.  In fact, TSMC’s 2017 sales were over 5x that of second-ranked GlobalFoundries and more than 10x the sales of the fifth-ranked foundry SMIC.

Figure 1

Figure 1

China-based Huahong Group, which includes Huahong Grace and Shanghai Huali, displayed the highest growth rate of the major foundries last year with an 18% jump.  Overall, 2017 was a good year for many of the major foundries with four of the eight registering double-digit sales increases.

Of the eight major foundries, six of them are headquartered in the Asia-Pacific region. As shown, Samsung was the only IDM foundry in the ranking.  IBM, a former major IDM foundry, was acquired by GlobalFoundries in mid-2015 while IDM foundries Fujitsu and Intel fell short of the $1.0 billion sales threshold last year. Although growing only 4% last year, Samsung easily remained the largest IDM foundry in 2017, with over 5x the foundry sales of Fujitsu, the second-largest IDM foundry.

By Walt Custer, Custer Consulting Group

Global Manufacturing Growth has Slowed, but is Still Positive (Chart 1)

Most key countries/regions saw a slowdown in growth in March based on their respective Purchasing Managers Indices. And in one case – South Korea – manufacturing moved into contraction.

February 2018 March 2018
Japan 54.1 53.1
South Korea 50.3 49.1
Taiwan 56.0 55.3
China 51.6 51.0
Europe 58.6 56.6
USA 60.8 59.3

custer-1-424

PMI Points to More Modest Expansion (Chart 2)

The global Purchasing Managers Index is a timely and readily available leading indicator for both world semiconductor and semiconductor capital equipment shipments. PMI values greater than 50 indicate expanding manufacturing activity.  See www.markiteconomics.com for PMI values for all major countries.

 

Recent semiconductor equipment, semiconductor and PMI 3-month (3/12) world growth rates were:

SEMI Equipment +29% February
Semiconductors                +21% February
PMI (squared) +4% March

The PMI leading indicator now points to more modest but still positive growth ahead.

custer-2-424

Semiconductor Industry Still has Legs (Chart 3)

Another useful and timely leading indicator is a composite of monthly Taiwan Chip Foundry sales.  Taiwan-listed companies publish their revenues about 10 days after the month closes. Chart 3 compares the composite monthly revenues of 14 Taiwan listed foundries vs. global semiconductor sales. Due to Lunar New year shutdowns, February 2018 was weak but foundry sales rebounded in March. Chip demand appears to be holding!

custer-3-424

Originally published on the SEMI blog.

SPTS Technologies, an Orbotech company and a supplier of advanced wafer processing solutions for the global semiconductor and related industries, announced today that it has been awarded the coveted Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Innovation 2018. The award recognizes SPTS’s development of novel physical vapor deposition (PVD) process solutions for Fan-Out Wafer Level Packaging (FOWLP) of semiconductor devices. Some of the advanced features and functionality developed for SPTS’s 300mm Sigma®fxP PVD system was made possible with funding assistance from a Welsh Government R&D grant. In addition to assessing the degree of innovation, the judging panel also evaluated SPTS on its corporate responsibility, which included employee affairs, customer and supplier relationships, and its impact on the environment and contribution to society.

“We are extremely proud to be recognized with the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Innovation,” stated Kevin Crofton, Corporate Executive Vice President at Orbotech and President of SPTS Technologies. “We provide advanced wafer processing equipment to the world’s leading semiconductor and microelectronics manufacturers, and an ongoing program of research and development coupled with our ability to commercialize our innovation has been key to building and sustaining a profitable business. This award belongs to our entire global organization – from those directly involved in the development of our advanced PVD solutions for the fast growing FOWLP application sector, to those who sold, manufactured, installed and supported the many 300mm Sigma systems that we’ve shipped into our customer base.”

Mr Crofton added, “The success of our wafer processing solutions for advanced packaging is a testament to the quality and competitiveness of UK developed technologies and products in the global markets. We are also very pleased to share credit for this award with the Welsh Government who demonstrated their commitment with the R&D grant that helped fund this and other advanced packaging development programs here at SPTS.”

Economy Secretary, Ken Skates said: “Huge congratulations to SPTS on winning another Queens Award for Enterprise and Innovation. SPTS is a prominent global business in South East Wales and an increasingly successful exporter, and this prestigious award is a well-deserved recognition of the company’s hard work and innovation.”

“The Welsh Government is proud to work with dynamic and forward thinking companies such as SPTS and we are pleased to have supported the company’s project to design and develop advanced packaging processes for semiconductors. There is no doubt that companies like SPTS are increasingly vital to our economy which is why my Economic Action Plan, which was published in December, seeks to support businesses to innovate, introduce new products and services and rise to the challenges of the future.”

The Queen’s Awards for Enterprise are the UK’s most prestigious business awards, given only to companies or individuals who are outstanding in their field. Previously known as the Queen’s Awards to Industry, the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise were introduced in 1966 to acknowledge businesses with outstanding performance in three categories – International Trade, Innovation and Sustainable Development.  The awards are open to any company operating in the UK and are announced annually on 21 April, The Queen’s birthday.

Technavio market research analysts forecast the global semiconductor assembly and packaging services market to grow at a CAGR of close to 5% during the period 2018-2022, according to their latest report.

In this report, Technavio highlights the advances in wafer size as one of the key emerging trends in the global semiconductor assembly and packaging services market. Since 2010, the semiconductor industry has seen a drastic transition in wafer size. To cut down costs by almost 20%-25%, the industry has shifted to large diameter wafers. Currently, the industry uses 300-mm wafers to manufacture ICs. As companies are investing a substantial amount in the construction and upgrading of fabs to manufacture 300-mm wafers, this trend is expected to continue during the forecast period.

However, the demand for 200-mm wafers will continue during the forecast period because semiconductor devices such as image sensors, microcontrollers, display drivers, and a few MEMS-based products like accelerometers still use 200-mm wafers for manufacturing. At the same time, the industry is planning to develop 450-mm wafer technology, which is expected to start during 2018-2019. This constant change in the wafer size will create the need for assembly and packaging services in the semiconductor industry.

In this report, Technavio analysts highlight the rising number of fabs as a key factor contributing to the growth of the global semiconductor assembly and packaging services market:

Rising number of fabs

Semiconductor fabs manufacture an array of semiconductor devices and components. These components are either designed in-house by IDMs or manufactured as per designs provided by the client to foundries. The need for silicon wafers to manufacture semiconductor components is increasing due to the rising application of these components in various emerging technologies such as IoT and AI. This will increase the need to develop more number of fabs. As the semiconductor foundry market is highly competitive, several companies are building new fabs.

According to a senior analyst at Technavio for semiconductor equipment, “The need for assembly and packaging services required for the timely manufacture of ICs is growing, due to the increasing demand for ICs in various emerging applications such as autonomous cars and robotics. Major foundries have announced various plans of constructing new fabs, which will be operational by 2019 onward.”

Global semiconductor assembly and packaging services market segmentation

This market research report segments the global semiconductor assembly and packaging services market into the following applications, including communication sector, computing and networking sector, industrial and automotive sector, and consumer electronics sector and key regions, including the Americas, APAC, and EMEA.

Of the four major applications, the communication sector held the largest market share in 2017, accounting for nearly 40% of the market. The market share for this application is expected to increase nearly 2% by 2022. The fastest growing application is industrial and automotive sector, which will account for nearly 24% of the total market share by 2022.

APAC was the leading region for the global semiconductor assembly and packaging services market in 2017, accounting for a market share of nearly 76%. By 2022, APAC is expected to continue dominating the market.

Mobile Semiconductor, a Seattle WA based company, today announced the inclusion of its new 22nm ULL (Ultra Low Leakage) memory compilers in the industry leading GLOBALFOUNDRIES FDXcelerator Program.  This new embedded SRAM technology on 22nm FDX offers the best in class memory solution using the GLOBALFOUNDRIES low leakage FDSOI bit cells and ultra-low leakage devices.

Cameron Fisher, CEO and Founder of Mobile Semiconductor, said, “This is a very important technology for low cost industrial and consumer products.  Our customers come from a wide range of markets, but one thing they share in common is the need to drive the power usage down to allow maximum battery life.”

This new compiler, equipped with multiple speed grades, allows the customer to maximize performance of their end product balancing power vs speed.  These low leakage memories make intelligent use of the reverse body bias capabilities of the FDSOI technology to control leakage and enhance performance.

Mobile Semiconductor’s 22nm ULL memory complier is unique in the industry and comes with the same high-quality design, testing, and support that customers have come to expect from their products.

Fisher said, “Mobile Semiconductor remains the leader in providing low power solutions and this complier removes the roadblocks that engineers have struggled with in their previous designs. Almost every single product developed for the IoT Market, will have new and more stringent demands placed on them.  We believe that Mobile Semiconductor is meeting the most important one – power!”

Nexperia, a developer of discretes, logic and MOSFET devices, today announced the successful completion of a refinancing of its current facilities with USD 800 million equivalent of senior credit facilities. This includes a significant proportion of Revolving Credit facility. The proceeds will be used to refinance existing outstanding debt and for Capex expenditure to fund future growth.

The facilities were arranged by Bank of America Merrill Lynch and HSBC, acting as Global Coordinators, and were syndicated by a group of nine global banks. The refinancing is fully supported by JAC Capital and Wise Road Capital, Nexperia’s two main shareholders, and provides a flexible financing package at very attractive terms to support the further growth of Nexperia going forward.

Comments from Frans Scheper, Nexperia’s CEO: “This is the first time that Nexperia has approached the financial markets as an independent company, so we are very pleased with the enthusiastic response. Refinancing the outstanding debt will result in significant savings and give us greater flexibility, while the extra credit will enable us to pursue our ambitions fully with investment in new facilities and manufacturing technology.”

Nexperia is a Netherlands-headquartered, global manufacturer of discrete semiconductor components. The company is investing in increasing its capacity and footprint, having recently made a significant expansion to its Guangdong Assembly and Test Facility in China.

Boston Semi Equipment (BSE), a semiconductor test handler manufacturer and provider of test automation technical services, today announced it is a recipient of the 2017 Texas Instruments Supplier Excellence Award (SEA).  The SEA is TI’s highest level of supplier recognition.  Boston Semi Equipment is among an elite group of suppliers chosen by TI for their exemplary performance in the areas of Cost, Environmental & Social Responsibility, Technology, Responsiveness, Assurance of Supply, and Quality.

“The TI Supplier Excellence Award is public recognition of the focus and effort that Boston Semi Equipment commits to continually improving the performance of our company and the solutions we provide our customers.  We appreciate the opportunity to provide products and services to Texas Instruments, and it is an honor to be recognized by TI as an excellent supplier,” stated Colin P Scholefield, President.  “I am proud of the performance of the Boston Semi Equipment team.”

SEMI, the industry association representing the global electronics manufacturing supply chain, and TechSearch International today reported that the global semiconductor packaging materials market reached $16.7 billion in 2017. While slower growth of smartphones and personal computers – the industry’s traditional drivers – is reducing material consumption, the slowdown was offset by strong unit growth in the cryptocurrency market in 2017 and early 2018. Flip chip package shipments into the cryptocurrency market, while providing a windfall to many suppliers, are not expected to remain at high levels.

The Global Semiconductor Packaging Materials Outlook shows that, despite growth in automotive electronics and high-performance computing, continuing price pressure and declining material consumption will constrain future material revenue growth to steady single-digits, with the materials market forecast to reach $17.8 billion in 2021. IC leadframes, underfill, and copper wire are among the materials segments that will see single-digit unit volume growth through 2021.

Laminate substrate suppliers participating in the sale of flip chip substrates for cryptocurrency saw volume increases in 2017, but this segment continues to be battered by increased use of multi-die solutions and the shift to wafer level packages (WLPs), including fan-out WLP, slowing growth. Wafer-level packaging (WLP) dielectrics and plating chemistry suppliers will experience stronger revenue growth as the adoption of advanced packaging continues.

Over the next several years, advances in the semiconductor materials market will present a number of opportunities driven by trends including:

  • Continued adoption of FO-WLP including FO-on-substrate solutions with high density geometries down to 2µm lines and spaces
  • Liquid crystal polymer (LCP) under consideration as a possible material option because of its good electrical performance and low moisture absorption, especially for mmWave applications such as 5G
  • Adoption of low-cost package solutions such as MIS and other routable-QFN technologies
  • PPF QFN volumes are rising with automotive applications, driving a requirement for roughened plating to deliver needed reliability
  • Expansion of photoresist plating capability for selective plating of leadframes
  • Thermally enhanced and high-voltage mold compounds for power and automotive devices
  • Thermally conductive die attach materials other than solder die attach for power applications

Report highlights include:

  • Laminate substrates represent the largest revenue segment of the materials market with more than $6 billion in sales for 2017.
  • Overall leadframe shipments are forecast to grow at a 3.9 percent CAGR from 2017 through to 2021, with LFCSP (QFN type) experiencing the strongest unit growth, an 8 percent CAGR.
  • Following five years of decline, gold wire shipments increased in both 2016 and 2017 though represent just 37 percent of the total bonding wire shipments in 2017.
  • Liquid encapsulant revenues totaled $1.3 billion in 2017 with single-digit expected through 2021. LED packaging applications are driving the revenue growth over the forecast period though downward pricing pressures are a constant in the market.
  • Die attach material revenues reached $741 million in 2017 with single digit growth to 2021. DAF materials will experience higher unit growth, though downward pricing trends continue.
  • Solder ball revenues reached $231 million in 2017. The revenue outlook depends on fluctuations in metal pricing.
  • The wafer-level plating chemical market was put at $263 million in 2017 with strong growth through 2021. RDL and Cu pillar will be the key growth segments.

SEMI and TechSearch International, Inc. teamed up again to develop the 8th edition of the Global Semiconductor Packaging Materials Outlook, a comprehensive market research study on the semiconductor packaging materials market. Interviews were conducted with more than 130 semiconductor manufacturers, packaging subcontractors, fabless semiconductor companies, and packaging material suppliers to gather information for the report. The report covers the following semiconductor packaging materials segments: substrates, leadframes, bonding wire, mold compounds, underfill materials, liquid encapsulants, die attach materials, solder balls, wafer level package dielectrics, and wafer-level plating chemicals.

Amkor Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMKR), a provider of semiconductor packaging and test services, today announced that multiple factories have passed certification audits for IATF 16949:2016, a key certification required for manufacturers who supply products to the automotive market. IATF 16949:2016 replaces and supersedes the older ISO/TS 16949 standard.

Included in the list of factories that achieved certification is Amkor’s newest, K5 ― a facility with 2.3 million square feet of floor space located in Incheon, South Korea. K5 combines automation, world class particle control and automotive processes to meet stringent quality and reliability requirements.

“This certification is a testament to Amkor’s significant automotive experience, as well as our exacting quality standards,” said YongChul Park, Amkor’s executive vice president, Worldwide Manufacturing. “Semiconductors are the foundation for automotive electronic systems that help keep passengers connected and safe. Certifying our factories for automotive applications offers significant growth opportunities for Amkor and enables us to deliver the leading-edge solutions our customers and automotive OEMs require.”

Automotive ICs must perform reliably under harsh conditions for extended periods of time. To deliver the durability and accuracy expected by automakers, IC suppliers are required to use specialized packaging techniques with additional process steps and controls. Amkor has factories in several countries that have achieved IATF 16949:2016 certification, including ATK, ATP, ATM, ATT, and ATC; IATF 16949:2016 certifications for J-Devices and Amkor Technology Portugal are in process. For more information, visit https://amkor.com/quality-management/.