The global system-in-package die market is anticipated to grow significantly over the forecast period. Market demand for high performance, small size, low power and low cost cannot be met through conventional packaging and interconnect technology. Conventional technology is unable to address limitations such as density; bandwidth and signal integrity and thermal management posed by interconnect technology. System in Package (SiP) technology helps to address these limitations effectively to a certain extent.
System in package is a technology that encompasses integrated circuits (IC) or semiconductor dies with different functionalities in a single package or a system that provides multiple functions associated to the system. It comprises of Optical components, MEMS and other packages or devices. Sip has evolved highly from being a speciality technology with limited set of applications to a high volume technology with a variety of application. The technology is used vastly in stack memory or logic devices and small modules in mobile applications. The two aforementioned applications have driven the system-in-package die market growth significantly. SiP has evolved as a substitute to System on Chip (SoC) owing to numerous advantages such as flexibility, low research and development cost ,low product cost , low NRE (non recurring engineering) cost among others.
The packaging technology SiP includes 2D and 3D IC packaging. The packaging types include Surface Mount Technology (SMT), Small Outline Package (SOP), Ball Grid Array (BGA) and Quad Flat Package. (QFP) whereas the interconnection technology used is wire bond and flip chip technology. Advance system packaging has led to development of innovative safety systems in transportation and automotive industry, for instance introduction of Local Interconnect Network (LIN) in a vehicle for operating the devices. The technology helps in increasing the overall performance, efficiency and reliability of a system.
The technology has penetrated most market segments rapidly such as consumer electronics, automotive, networking, medical electronics, computing, mobile, communication etc. Benefits including less power requirements and low cost have played a significant role in early acceptance and further driven the market growth especially in mobile applications. Rise in demand for small or miniaturized along with high performance devices will serve as a key market driver. In addition, faster time to market and heterogeneous integration acts a market driver. Complexity of packaging design is one key challenge that may affect the market.
The key market players include ASE Global (Taiwan), ChipMOS Technologies (Taiwan), Nanium S.A. (Portugal), Siliconware Precision Industries Co., Ltd Wi2Wi Inc. (U.S.), InsightSiP (France), Fujitsu Semiconductor Limited (Japan), Amkor Technology (U.S.), Freescale Semiconductor Inc. (U.S.) among others.