Category Archives: Wafer Level Packaging

SEMI, the global industry association representing the electronics manufacturing supply chain, today announced that the WT | Wearable Technologies Conference 2018 USA will co-locate July 11-12 with SEMICON West 2018 in San Francisco. The electronics industry’s premier U.S. event, SEMICON West — July 10-12 at Moscone North and South — will highlight engines of industry expansion including smart transportation, smart manufacturing, smart medtech, smart data, big data, artificial intelligence, blockchain and the Internet of Things (IoT). Click here to register.

“We are excited that the WT | Wearables Technologies Conference has joined SEMICON West to co-locate in 2018,” said David Anderson, president of SEMI Americas. “Our strategic partnership brings new content and more value to our extended supply chain. Every day the semiconductor industry makes chips smaller and faster with ever-higher performance. These innovations enable new wearable applications for smart living, smart medtech and healthcare that are continuously improving our lives. The WT | Wearable Technologies Conference speakers at SEMICON West 2018 will demonstrate just how they use semiconductor technology to deliver leading-edge wearables.”

“It is a great pleasure to collaborate with the leading global electronics manufacturing association and its successful SEMICON West event,” said Christian Stammel, CEO of WT | Wearables Technologies. “Since the beginning of our platform in 2006, the semiconductor industry has been a major driver of wearables and IoT innovation. All major developments in the WT application markets like healthcare (smart patches), safety and security (tracking solutions), lifestyle and sport (smartwatches and wristbands) and in the industrial field (AR / VR) were driven by semiconductor and MEMS innovations. Our program of expert speakers at SEMICON West will share the latest insights in the wearables market as the SEMI and WT ecosystems explore collaboration and innovation opportunities.”

By Walt Custer, Custer Consulting Group

Broad global & U.S. electronic supply chain growth

The first quarter of this year was very strong globally, with growth across the entire electronics supply chain. Although Chart 1 is based on preliminary data, every electronics sector expanded –  with many in double digits. The U.S. dollar-denominated growth estimates in Chart 1 have effectively been amplified by about 5 percent by exchange rates (as stronger non-dollar currencies were consolidated to weaker U.S. dollars), but the first quarter global rates are very impressive nonetheless.

Walt Custer Chart 1

U.S. growth was also good (Chart 2) with Quarter 1 2018 total electronics equipment shipments up 7.2 percent over the same period last year. Since all the Chart 2 values are based on domestic (US$) sales, there is no growth amplification due to exchange rates.

Walt Custer Chart 2

We expect continued growth in Quarter 2 but not at the robust pace as the first quarter.

Chip foundry growth resumes

Taiwan-listed companies report their monthly revenues on a timely basis – about 10 days after month end. We track a composite of 14 Taiwan Stock Exchange listed chip foundries to maintain a “pulse” of this industry (Chart 3).

Walt Custer Chart 3

Chip foundry sales have been a leading indicator for global semiconductor and semiconductor capital equipment shipments. After dropping to near zero in mid-2017, foundry growth is now rebounding.

Chart 4 compares 3/12 (3-month) growth rates of global semiconductor and semiconductor equipment sales to chip foundry sales. The foundry 3/12 has historically led semiconductors and SEMI equipment and is pointing to a coming cyclical upturn. It will be interesting to see how China’s semiconductor industry buildup impacts this historical foundry leading indicator’s performance.

Walt Custer Chart 4

Passive Component Shortages and Price Increases

Passive component availability and pricing are currently major issues. Per Chart 5, Quarter 1 2018 passive component revenues increased almost 25 percent over the same period last year. Inadequate component supplies are hampering many board assemblers with no short-term relief in sight.

Walt Custer Chart 5

Peeking into the Future

Looking forward, the global purchasing managers index (a broad leading indicator) has moderated but is still well in growth territory.

Walt Custer Chart 6

The world business outlook remains positive but requires continuous watching!

Walt Custer of Custer Consulting Group is an  analyst focused on the global electronics industry.

Originally published on the SEMI blog.

Silvaco, an EDA and IP provider of software tools, announced today that it has moved into new corporate headquarters at 2811 Mission College Boulevard on the sixth floor of one of the towers of the Mission Corporate Center in the heart of Silicon Valley in Santa Clara.

After 34 years, Silvaco moved from its company-owned Patrick Henry campus, where it occupied 5 buildings to a state of the art facility with workspace for all employees under one roof.

“This is an exciting time for Silvaco and marks a huge milestone for the company, aligned with our progress in our leadership for Advanced Nodes, Power and Display. The new layout allows for a modern-style collaborative working environment to help accelerate our pace of innovation,” said Dave Dutton, CEO of Silvaco. “I am confident that this move will allow us to accommodate our future growths plans.

Silvaco, Inc. is a leading EDA and IP provider of software tools used for process and device development and for analog/mixed-signal, power IC, and memory design. Silvaco delivers a full TDAD-to-sign-off flow for vertical markets including displays, power electronics, optical devices, radiation and soft error reliability, and advanced CMOS process and IP development

SEMI Industry Research and Statistics, and Jan Vardaman, TechSearch International

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, SEMI, the industry association representing the global electronics manufacturing supply chain, and TechSearch International reported in The Global Semiconductor Packaging Materials Outlook.

The 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.

For more information and to purchase the report, click here.

EV Group (EVG), a supplier of wafer bonding and lithography equipment for the MEMS, nanotechnology and semiconductor markets, today announced that it has started construction work for the next expansion phase of its corporate headquarters. The new building will house EVG’s “Manufacturing III” facility, which will more than double the floor space for the final assembly of EVG’s systems.

“With our innovative manufacturing solutions for the high-tech industry as well as new biomedical applications, we operate in very dynamic markets with great future prospects,” stated Dr. Werner Thallner, executive operations and financial director at EV Group. “In light of the high capacity utilization in all areas of our existing facilities, as well as the positive market outlook, we decided to implement our plans for building our Manufacturing III facility this year. This will support our long-term growth targets at our corporate headquarters in St. Florian am Inn.”

EVG Manufacturing III Photo 1

The new Manufacturing III building, adjacent to the new test room site that was opened just a few months ago, will be built next to the river Inn. The ultramodern building will provide approximately 4,800 square meters of additional space in total, which will benefit not only manufacturing but other departments as well. In addition to an expansion of warehouse space, a new delivery area with a dedicated packaging site designed for cleanroom equipment will be created, along with an airfreight security zone and new truck loading docks for the shipment of the completed systems to EVG’s worldwide customers.

The construction of the new Manufacturing III building is set to be completed in early 2019.

TowerJazz today announced the release of its 300mm 65nm BCD (Bipolar-CMOS-DMOS) process, the most advanced power management platform for up to 16V operation and 24V maximum voltage.  This technology is manufactured in TowerJazz’s Uozu, Japan facility, with best-in-class quality and cycle time, and is based on the Company’s 300mm 65nm automotive qualified flows.

This platform provides significant material competitive advantages for any type of power management chip up to 16V regardless of application, including a wide variety of products such as: PMICs, load switches, DC-DC converters, LED drivers, motor drivers, battery management, analog and digital controllers, and more. IHS Markit Power IC Analyst, Kevin Anderson forecasts a $9.4 billion available market, which this technology addresses, in 2018 with continual growth.

TowerJazz’s 65nm BCD process is leading this low voltage market segment with the highest power efficiency, very small die size, best digital integration capability; and superior cost effectiveness through both the smallest aerial footprint and the lowest mask count.

The process includes four leading edge power LDMOS transistors: 5V, 7V, 12V and 16V operation, each with the best available Rdson and Qgd parameters. In addition to the new aforementioned cost and figure of merit benchmarks, multiple chips can be integrated to a single monolithic IC solution replacing a multiple chip module for an improved system cost structure and system performance.

TowerJazz’s power transistors are fully isolated to withstand high currents, all with an ultra-low Rdson, e.g. less than 1mΩ*mm² for the 5V LDMOS. For products which operate at the megahertz (MHz) switching frequencies, the 65nm BCD power transistors benefit from a very low Qgd down to 2.6mΩ*nC. In addition, very low metal resistance is achieved using a single or dual 3.3um top thick copper. The 65nm BCD also offers aggressive 113Kgate/mm² 5V digital density and an 800Kgate/mm² 1.2V digital library.

“This new 65nm BCD platform establishes TowerJazz as a technology leader in the related growing markets for up to 16V power applications,” said Shimon Greenberg, Vice President and General Manager of Power Management & Mixed-Signal/CMOS Business Unit, TowerJazz. “Best addressing the vast low voltage power management market segment, we are experiencing very high interest from early adopter customers and plan a mass production ramp by the fourth quarter of 2018.”

TowerJazz will be exhibiting at ISPSD, the 30th IEEE International Symposium on Power Semiconductor Devices and ICs on May 13-17, 2018 in Chicago, USA.

Siemens Corporation today announced that Barbara Humpton has been appointed CEO for the United States, effective June 1, 2018. Humpton (57) is currently CEO of Siemens Government Technologies, Inc. (SGT), a Federally-compliant U.S. organization structured to help address national imperatives in energy, infrastructure, automation and marine platforms.

“Barbara has broad knowledge of Siemens’ entire portfolio that will serve us well as we continue to grow the U.S. business,” said Lisa Davis, CEO of Siemens Corporation and Americas Region and Member of the Siemens AG Managing Board.

Humpton joined Siemens Government Technologies in 2011 as Senior Vice President for Business Development and was appointed to lead the company’s approach to the federal market in 2015. Prior to joining Siemens, Humpton held senior leadership positions at Lockheed Martin and Booz Allen Hamilton, where she was a Vice President at both firms.

“I am honored to work with the 50,000 Siemens employees in the U.S. to address the market’s needs in electrification, automation and digitalization. It’s an exciting time to be at Siemens as we develop products and services that are shaping the future,” said Humpton.

Siemens has been in the U.S. for more than 160 years and has invested $35 billion in America in the last 15 years alone. With 50,000 U.S. employees and more than 60 manufacturing sites, Siemens in the U.S. is using its global leadership in engineering and technology innovation to meet America’s toughest challenges, delivering solutions for industry, hospitals, utilities, cities, and manufacturers: from efficient power generation, to digital factories and oil and gas fields, to medical diagnostics, to locomotives, to next-generation software used in every phase of product development.

To receive expert insights sign up for Siemens’ U.S. Executive Pulse leadership blog. Follow Siemens USA on Facebook and Twitter.

Siemens AG (Berlin and Munich) is a global technology powerhouse that has stood for engineering excellence, innovation, quality, reliability and internationality for 170 years.

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.

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.

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.”