WLCSP/Fan-In has been selected by Apple for its latest iPhones

The packaging platform secures its place in the mobile world.

OUTLINE:

• Market trends:

WLCSP[1]/Fan-In packaging market will reach more than US$ 2.5 Billion by 2025 with a 3.2% CAGR[2] between 2019 and 2025.

In the mobile market segment, WLCSP/Fan-In packaging confirms its leading position.

• Competitive landscape:

ASE with SPIL, Amkor, and JCET dominate the WLCSP/Fan-In packaging market.

More than 60% of the total market is shared by the foundries.

TSMC and Samsung are trying to break into this market...

• iPhone 12 – Technology choices from Apple:

Latest iPhones include WLCSP packages ranging from 1x1 mm package size to as large as 7x7 mm package size.

Thanks to excellent wafer thinning processes and capabilities at OSATs[3], WLCSP offers very attractive solution at best price with needed scalability & reliability.

• COVID-19 pandemic:

The semiconductor industry is expected to be hit in 2H’2020 as global trade tensions are on the rise and US/EU[4] economies severely impacted through airline, travel, and restaurant business restrictions resulting from the lockdown. 

• Power and RF Packaging Forums powered by CITC and Yole Développement on Nov. 24, 2020 & Dec. 1, 2020 – Register today on i-Micronews.

“WLCSP/Fan-In packages are here to stay as they offer “best in class” solution for mobile applications,” asserts Vaibhav Trivedi, Senior Technology & Market analyst, Advanced Packaging at Yole Développement (Yole). “WLCSP/Fan-In solutions are increasing scalability and offering best cost with reliable performance.”

Generally speaking, the global WLP[5] market was worth US$3.3 Billion in 2019 and is expected to grow at an 8.9% CAGR to reach US$5.5 Billion by 2025. WLCSP/Fan-In was worth more than $2 Billion in 2019 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.2% to exceed $2.5 Billion by 2025…

Yole, the market research and strategy consulting company, and its partner, System Plus Consulting, research the advanced packaging industry all year long. Thanks to daily exchanges with leading advanced packaging companies, analysts develop an extensive expertise in the technology evolution and market trends. This knowledge is delivered through an impressive collection of technical and market reports and monitors. The WLCSP/ Fan-In Packaging Technologies and Market 2020 report is part of this compilation. Released today, it delivers a comprehensive overview of the WLCSP/ Fan-In packaging market with detailed market figures and competitive landscape, together with an accurate analysis of the supply chain and business models. It also offers a relevant vision of the packaging technologies with their applications.

Yole’s analysts follow the WLCSP industry, amongst many other advanced packaging platforms, and report back on a quarterly basis with its Advanced Packaging Quarterly Market Monitor. The advanced packaging monitor analyzes the WLP market’s evolution in terms of revenue, shipments, capex, market pricing, capacity, application & process technology mix, as well as supplier market shares. More information is supplied on i-Micronews. And, in the future, the company will extend its coverage to Flip Chip packaging and 2.5D/3D packaging.

In parallel, System Plus Consulting analyzed in-depth the Apple iPhone 12 series and presents a dedicated teardown & bill of materials. In this analysis, the reverse engineering & costing company highlights the WLCSP packaging technologies selected by Apple for its latest smartphones. System Plus Consulting gives a full overview of the systems and components present in them and details the technologies selected by this leading smartphone manufacturer. Each step of the teardown process is carefully documented by System Plus Consulting’s experts to present detailed insights into component parts and costs, as well as chip system functionality.

What is the status of the WLCSP/Fan-In industry and the overall packaging market? What are the economic and technological challenge? What are the impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak? Which are the leading companies to watch? How will the market and its supply chain evolve?

Yole and System Plus Consulting analysts present today their vision of the WLCSP/Fan-In technologies and its applications.

In advanced packaging technologies, WLP is becoming more and more popular due to its promise of the smallest and thinnest form factor with reasonable reliability. Wafer level Fan-Out, or Fan-Out and WLCSP, and Fan-In remain two powerful wafer level package families.

Unlike Fan-Out, Fan-In offers the simplest process flow while providing thin, small form factors, easy to assemble, which populate many SiP[6] and smartphone board assemblies. WLCSP also offers BSP[7] while maintaining the same footprint as the die area. 

Fan-In packaging is expected to reach new heights driven by the explosive growth of WLCSP form factors in smartphones, tablets, and the wearable market in mobile and consumer segment. WLCSP package revenue is driven by rapid growth in earbuds and smartwatch markets in addition to 5G deployment where many devices such as antenna tuners are leveraging WLCSP form factors.

WLCSP platform offers package size as small as 1x1 mm to as large as 7x7 mm with low temperature dielectrics as new developments in this arena. In addition to low temperature dielectric, another emerging trend in WLCSP platform is “6S” side mold protected package as offered by Deca Technologies’ M-Series product line.

“Deca’s M-Series offers superior BLR[8] performance and many OEMs[9] have slowly started to look at this novel approach where the die is protected from all sides without “fanning out the I/Os,” explains Stéphane Elisabeth, Technology & Cost Analyst at System Plus Consulting. “This entails some level of price impact, but many applications are being looked at due to better performance and a lower rate of field returns. Many OSATs have also started offering similar side mold process options to the customer with a slightly higher price than WLCSP.”[10]

The WLCSP platform initially was used with a high number of PMIC[11] devices, however it has exploded to include various switches, antenna tuners, RF[12] transceivers, filters, wireless charging IC[13], some CIS[14] devices, and NFC[15] controller type applications. The breadth of application envelope provided by the WLCSP platform is the most compared to any other packaging family, and it has the best cost structure and lowest cycle time.

The majority of WLCSP volume is driven by smartphone demand as it remains the biggest consumer for this platform. The WLCSP platform has replaced wafer level fan-out and FCCSP[16] platforms whenever it is feasible from a performance and design standpoint.

“OEMs, such as Apple, have become the leaders in increasingly adopting this platform as a first-choice packaging given its lowest cost and simple process flow,” explains Vaibhav from Yole. “New frontiers in WLCSP packaging remain side mold protection and low temperature dielectrics as well as larger die size support to 7x7 mm” …

System Plus Consulting and Yole teams are deeply engaged in the advanced packaging industry with valuable analyses, presentations, articles, and interviews. Make sure to get a comprehensive understanding of the ecosystem and business opportunities and follow them on i-Micronews.

CITC and Yole Développement organize Power and RF Packaging Forums - Nov. 24, 2020 & Dec. 1, 2020 - online

Speakers are revealed: Amkor, AT&S, Danfoss, Dupont, Fachhochschule Henkel, Heraeus, Kiel, Fraunhofer IISB, Osaka University, University of Twente, AT&S, Dupont, Henkel, IMST GmbH VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and others!

In addition, save the date with the next advanced packaging webcast: 3D Packaging is breaking new ground on Dec. 3, 2020. Speakers are Favier Shoo from Yole & Stéphane Elisabeth from System Plus Consulting. Registration are now open on i-Micronews.

[1] WLCSP: Wafer Level Chip Scale Package

[2] CAGR: Compound Annual Growth Rate

[3] OSAT: Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test

[4] EU: European Union

[5] WLP : Wafer Level Packaging

[6] SiP: System in Packages

[7] BSP: Backside Protection

[8] BLR : Board Level Reliability

[9] OEM : Original Equipment Manufacturers

[10] Related report from System Plus Consulting: ASE/Deca M-Series Fan-Out Process, 2020 edition

[11] PMIC : Power Management Integrated Circuit

[12] RF: Radio Frequency

[13] IC: Integrated Circuit

[14] CIS : CMOS Image Sensor

[15] NFC: Near-Field-Communication

[16] FCCSP: Flip Chip Chip Scale Package

Sources: www.yole.fr - www.systemplus.fr