Global Leadframes Market Research Report 2023-Competitive Analysis, Status and Outlook by Type, Downstream Industry, and Geography, Forecast to 2029

Global Leadframes Market Research Report 2023-Competitive Analysis, Status and Outlook by Type, Downstream Industry, and Geography, Forecast to 2029

A leadframe is a thin layer of metal that is utilized in the semiconductor device assembly process. It is used to connect the large-scale circuitry on circuit boards and electrical devices to the tiny electrical terminals etched on the surface of the semiconductors.

Thus, leadframes are used to create most kinds of integrated circuit packaging. Basically, the silicon chip is placed on the lead frame and then metal leads of the lead frame are bonded to the chip. Finally, the connection is covered with plastic.

Often, the production of lead frames is customized according to the specifications, features, thermal properties, and electrical properties required by the client. Lead frames are created using two procedures – Etching and Stamping.

Market Overview:

The latest research study on the global Leadframes market finds that the global Leadframes market reached a value of USD 3647.34 million in 2022. It’s expected that the market will achieve USD 4796.0 million by 2028, exhibiting a CAGR of 4.67% during the forecast period.

Insufficient supply, prolonged delivery cycle, rising prices

Affected by the epidemic, the trade war, and the recent Russia-Ukraine conflict, as well as the market's investment mismatch for wafer demand in the past few years, in recent two years, chips in many downstream fields such as automotive electronics, photovoltaics, home appliances, consumer electronics, and 5G communication terminals have been in a state of shortage. This shortage is not only on the wafer side, but also on the packaging and testing side. The demand for chips in the fields of electronics, photovoltaics, household appliances, etc. is more concentrated in power chips such as MOSFET, IGBT, MCU, etc. The packaging forms of these chips are still traditional packaging forms such as DIP (Dual in-line package), SOP (Small Out-Line Package), QFN (Quad Flat Package), etc. In the current global wave of core shortage, the demand for lead frames has increased, but the industry supply is far behind, and the industry has begun to show a market pattern of short supply. It is a foregone conclusion that the delivery time is constantly prolonged and the prices are rising quarter by quarter.

Impact of Russia and Ukraine War

The war between Russia and Ukraine has hit the global commodity market. As the conflict between Russia and Ukraine continues, soaring oil prices and concerns about supply have disrupted the raw material market. Global commodities have soared, ranging from energy to metals to agricultural products. The aluminum price of London Stock Exchange has risen by 30% this year, and the prices of other metals such as copper, zinc and nickel are also soaring.
With the western sanctions against Russia extending to more and more fields, some high-tech industries have been seriously affected. As the global microelectronic industry can not be separated from a variety of key raw materials from Russia and Ukraine, the western economy represented by the automobile industry is suffering losses. At the same time, due to the incomplete semiconductor industry in Russia, the pressure brought by the western embargo has been felt.
In addition, the Ukraine-Russia conflict makes the unstable semiconductor industry more fragile. In addition to trade sanctions, tight manufacturing capacity and other reasons, the shortage of upstream core materials and production capacity worldwide is also the main reason for the shortage of semiconductor products.
With the escalation of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the supply of semiconductor-related rare gases is likely to be tight. As a global supplier of semiconductor raw materials, Ukraine is a big supplier of neon, argon, krypton, xenon and other gases, among which neon is the global market leader. The decrease of special gas supply will still cause the cost increase, and the semiconductor price may rise again.

Downstream market demand growth

In recent years, the demand for lead frame packaging in automotive electronics, consumer electronics, communications, smart homes and other fields has been greatly increased, and the related fields have shown a tight supply situation, and products have begun to enter the boom cycle of rising prices. It is an indisputable fact that the automobile industry is undergoing electric transformation, and the future transportation mode will be cleaner and faster. Nowadays, consumers prefer sustainable and environmentally friendly lifestyles. Because of the epidemic, this phenomenon has become more obvious. For cars with different price grades, consumers are paying more and more attention to their environmental protection characteristics. The improvement of electrification, intelligence and networking of automobiles will directly drive the demand of related electronic hardware products, especially the demand for semiconductors. Therefore, the global automotive semiconductor market is expected to continue to increase, thus increasing the market demand for leadframes.

High industry barriers

At present, the production capacity of etched lead frames is mainly controlled by Japanese enterprises, while China and Taiwan-funded enterprises mainly compete in the field of stamping production technology. Even stamping production has a higher entry threshold, which is mainly reflected in the mold design capability, technological process capability and environmental protection threshold of electroplating process.
Etching process, with large capital investment and high entry threshold, mainly manufactures ultra-thin and multi-pin lead frames. In the die stamping production process, the die manufacturing cycle is longer, generally more than two to three months, and the supply cycle is longer. It is greatly influenced by the precision of stamping press and the advanced nature of die. High barriers to entry and high investment in expanding production affect the supply of leadframes, resulting in insufficient supply in the industry. In addition, in order to meet the product technical requirements of downstream customers and maintain product competitiveness, leadframes manufacturers need to increase R&D investment for equipment upgrade and process development accumulation for a long time.
Due to financial and technical barriers, manufacturers have low willingness to expand production. Due to the long capital recovery cycle, mature players in the industry are also cautious about capacity expansion.

Region Overview:

China had the highest growth rate of all regions.

Company Overview:

The major players operating in the Leadframes market include Mitsui High-tec, HAESUNG DS, Chang Wah Technology, SDI and Shinko, etc. Among which, Mitsui High-tec, ranked top in terms of sales and revenue in 2022.

Mitsui High-tec

Mitsui High-tec, Inc. engages in the production and sale of lead frame, motor core, precision tooling and machine tools. It operates through the following segments: Metal Molds, Electronic Components, Electrical Components, and Machine Tools. The Metal Molds segment manufactures and sells molds for press. The Electronic Components segment engages in the manufacture and sale of IC (Integrated Circuit) assembly and lead frame products. The Electrical Components segment handles the production of motor cores. The Machine Tools segment produces precision surface grinders.

HAESUNG DS

Haesung DS has been a global leader in the semiconductor market since its establishment. Haesung DS business consists of lead frame and PKG substrates. Also most of Haesung DS products are exported to global semiconductor customers.

Segmentation Overview:

By type, Stamping Process Lead Frame segment accounted for the largest share of market in 2022.

Application Overview:

The market's largest segment by application is the segment Discrete Device, with a market share of 48.66% in 2022.

Key Companies in the global Leadframes market covered in Chapter 3:

QPL Limited
Fusheng Electronics
Advanced Assembly Materials International
Hualong
Shinko
HAESUNG DS
Enomoto
Dynacraft Industries
JIH LIN TECHNOLOGY
WuXi Micro Just-Tech
Jentech
POSSEHL
Kangqiang
HUAYANG ELECTRONIC
Mitsui High-tec
Chang Wah Technology
SDI

In Chapter 4 and Chapter 14.2, on the basis of types, the Leadframes market from 2018 to 2029 is primarily split into:

Stamping Process Lead Frame
Etching Process Lead Frame

In Chapter 5 and Chapter 14.3, on the basis of Downstream Industry, the Leadframes market from 2018 to 2029 covers:

Integrated Circuit
Discrete Device
Others

Geographically, the detailed analysis of consumption, revenue, market share and growth rate, historic and forecast (2018-2029) of the following regions are covered in Chapter 8 to Chapter 14:

North America (United States, Canada)
Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Spain, Russia, Netherlands, Turkey, Switzerland, Sweden)
Asia Pacific (China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia)
Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina)
Middle East & Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, South Africa)