Panel Level Packaging Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

Panel Level Packaging Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The Global Panel Level Packaging (PLP) market is anticipated to register a CAGR of 28.1% over the forecast period from 2022 to 2027. With the outbreak of COVID-19, the PLP packaging market witnessed a decline in growth due to restrictions on the movement of goods and severe disruptions in the semiconductor supply chain. Small form factors with improved thermal performance create significant demand for panel-level packaging technology in several industrial applications such as consumer electronics, automotive, aerospace and defense, and telecommunications.

• Panel Level Packaging (PLP) is expected to become a critical packaging process, and manufacturers are increasingly driving their suppliers to provide panel-processing tools and materials to allow them to bring wafer-level precision to packaged processes on the panel substrates. This packaging is used to pack field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), CPU/GPU, power management IC modules, baseband, and others. The solution reduces the cost of circuit packaging and enhances design flexibility.
• Moreover, Panel-level packaging, which offers economies of scale, is anticipated by players like ASE, Powertech, Nepes, and Samsung. To lower the price of advanced packaging, these businesses are creating or expanding panel-level fan-out packaging. One of the many types of advanced packaging that allows for the integration of dies, MEMS, and passives into a single IC package is wafer-level fan-out. This method, which is produced in a round wafer format in 200mm or 300mm wafer sizes, has been in use for a number of years..
• Semiconductor industry market players aimed to develop next-generation semiconductor packaging technologies through knowledge transfer and shared research and development. ​For instance, in October 2021, Showa Denko Materials Co. Ltd announced the establishment of the “JOINT2 (Jisso Open Innovation Network of Tops 2)” consortium, which includes 12 companies developing semiconductor packaging materials, equipment, and substrates. The project also aimed to create large fan-out panel-level packaging for application processors.
• Moreover, COVID-19 pandemic impacted, resulting in low inventory levels for clients of semiconductor vendors and distribution channels. Moreover, the major semiconductor vendors worked with reduced capacity owing to the global spread of the COVID-19 virus. For instance, Foxconn iPhone production operations located about 300 miles from Wuhan in Zhengzhou operated with 10-20% capacity due to the workforce issues of the lockdown of cities.
• However, the challenge associated with the panel packaging is that IC vendors traditionally rely on on-chip scaling to advance their devices. In scaling, the focus is to pack more transistors on the monolithic die at each process node, enabling faster chips with a lower cost per transistor. But chip scaling is not going away, becoming more difficult and expensive at each node, prompting many IC vendors to look for other alternatives.
• Currently, panel-level processing incorporates a mix of LCD, PCB, wafer-level, and high-density interconnect toolsets, directing to a cluttered industry landscape. However, the ongoing semiconductor shortage and supply chain crisis have created opportunities for panel-level packaging, considering the benefits it could provide if utilized for volume manufacturing. The benefits that drove WLP adoption, including improved performance, and lower costs, are currently driving the adoption of panel-level packaging.

• Consumer electronics such as mobiles are powering a new wave of developments in electronic packaging. The demand for panel-level packaging significantly rises in several countries, increasing consumer electronic sales yearly. Further, Berlin's Fraunhofer IZM, with the second consortium launched for 2020–2022, this focus has shifted to die placement and embedding technology for ultra-fine-line. The project's progress includes: new equipment for panel level packaging had been installed during the run-up to the PLC 2.0 and the project benefits.
• Additionally, with the advent of smart devices, the applications of semiconductor components are expanding rapidly. Chip size, information transmission speed, and performance requirements in network communications, automotive applications, and manufacturing are also becoming more stringent. However, 5G, AIoT, and High-Performance Computing (HPC) companies increasingly turn to wafer and fan-out panel-level packaging (FOPLP) when purchasing chips.
• Likewise, companies are focused on manufacturing FOPLP solutions for their increased demand. For instance, in May 2021, Manz AG, a high-tech system manufacturer with a comprehensive technology portfolio, is increasingly implementing microchips' revolutionary packaging process, Fan-Out Panel Level Packaging (FOPLP). Also, the company is currently taking follow-up orders in the mid-single-digit million euro range from one of the suppliers in the field of microchip production.
• Moreover, Samsung Electronics is the front-runner in the development of panel-level packaging technology. The company has been conducting research and development on the technology for the last few years. For instance, in August 2021, Samsung Electronics announced the new wearable processor, the Exynos W920. This processor is the first to be built with an advanced 5-nanometer extreme ultra-violet (EUV) process node. Moreover, the processor comes in the smallest package available in the industry for wearables using Fan-Out Panel Level Packaging (FO-PLP).​

• North America is predicted to witness significant growth in the market studied due to the high adoption of consumer electronics, advanced technology integration in the automotive, and further various players who focused on investing in the region. The semiconductor industry (including discrete) in the United States is one of the top exporting industries.
• Moreover, according to International Trade Association(ITA), most of the semiconductors (over 82%) consist of direct US exports and sales by US-owned subsidiaries overseas and take into account US-based R&D, the creation of intellectual property (IP), design, and other high-value-added work.
• The researchers in North America are investing in product innovations using MEMS. The California-based MEMS Drive announced to partner with SmartSens Technology to integrate MEMS with image sensing chips for achieving chip-level optical image stabilization (OIS) for extending its application in security monitoring, AI, ML, and autonomous vehicles.​ This significantly drives the packaging in MEMS for the hermetically sealed and reliable packaging solutions.
• Further, the electronics industry in the region is growing steadily and holds a prominent share in many enterprises operating in the design and fabless space. According to the US Census Bureau, the semiconductors and other electronic components sector's revenue is expected to reach USD 105.16 billion by 2023, leading to market demand.
• Oranizations are focused on integrations and expansion to innnovate advacned solution in the panel level packaging market. For instance, in June 2022, Nepes joins the American Semiconductor Innovation Coalition (ASIC) to Strengthen Global Semiconductor Cooperation. As members of ASIC, the company will contribute to developing a strong proposal for a technical plan in advanced packaging.
• Furthermore, as the panel level processing incorporates a mix of LCD, PCB, wafer-level, and others, that leads to complicated industry landscape, SEMI standards panel level packaging panel task force led the push toward the standardization of single panel size across a variety of different materials and different processes.

The market is considered slightly competitive with major players such as Amkor Technology, Inc., Deca Technologies, Lam Research Corporation, ASE Group, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited. These companies have a major share of the market. However, more companies are involved in extensive R&D and market development activities to develop competitive panel-level packaging technology in the coming years.

• November 2021 - Amkor Technology, Inc. announced its plans to build a state-of-the-art factory in Bac Ninh, Vietnam. This factory primarily focuses on providing advanced systems in plan-level packaging assembly and test solutions to semiconductor and electronic manufacturing companies worldwide.
• October 2021 - Deca Technologies and SkyWater Technology announced their agreement for Deca`s second generation M-Series fan-out-wafer-level packaging technology with adaptive patterning within SkyWater's advanced packaging facility in Florida. The companies are establishing the first high-volume FOWLP capability in the United States, to get proven solutions for single and multi-die packaging and advanced heterogeneous integration capability for chiplets through 2.5D and 3D implementations.

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