Panel Level Packaging Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2023 - 2028)

Panel Level Packaging Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2023 - 2028)

The Global Panel Level Packaging (PLP) market is anticipated to register a CAGR of 41.91% over the forecast period. The semiconductor industry is witnessing rapid growth, with semiconductors emerging as the basic building blocks of all modern technology. The advancements and innovations in this field directly impact all downstream technologies and drive the market study's need.

• The need for 400 mm wafers is shifting focus toward panel-level packaging. Panel-level packaging is one of the following steps for Fan-out wafer-level packaging. Vendors across the globe are focusing on upscaling PLP instead of drawing a roadmap to 450 mm Fan-out Wafer Level Packaging. In addition, PLP is expected to offer significant cost advantages by parallelizing process steps and allowing higher area utilization of packages in rectangular panel formats rather than round wafer shapes to lower material waste.
• However, the focus on Panel Level Packaging is increasing due to the cost benefits and expanding the packaging size from wafer to larger panel formats and, in addition to that, increasing the number of packages manufactured in parallel. Additionally, PLP can adopt processes, materials, and equipment from other technology areas. Printed Circuit Board (PCB), Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), or solar equipment is manufactured on panel sizes and offers new Fan-out Panel Level Packaging approaches.
• Moreover, the constant trend of miniaturization across various end-user industries, such as consumer electronics, automotive, and others, has also increased pressure on packaging vendors. The transition from Flip-Chip to Wafer Level packaging has continued to be a trend for several years. However, the following type of advanced packaging is shifting from 300mm wafer-level packaging to Panel level packaging.
• The packaging process involves both types, Mold first and RDL first. However, the type of packaging involves problems in die shift. Die shifting is considered one of the biggest issues as it may cause lesser yield or negatively influence the yields. This increases the need for more control over the packaging process and adds complexity.
• The COVID -19 pandemic affected the overall semiconductor manufacturing market from the demand and supply sides. In addition, the global lockdowns and closure of semiconductor plants further fueled the supply shortage. The effects were also reflected in the Panel level packaging market. However, many of these effects are likely to be short-term. Precautions by governments across the globe to support automotive and semiconductor sectors could help revive industry growth.

• Consumer electronics is one of the major end-user industries in the market. Growth in the smartphone industry, increasing adoption of smart devices and wearables, and increasing penetration of consumer IoT devices in applications like smart homes are significant factors driving the growth of the studied segment.
• The miniaturization trend in the consumer electronics industry has given rise to smaller, lighter, and more portable devices. Each new iteration of consumer electronics products is more innovative, lightweight, and energy-efficient than its predecessors. This creates enormous customer expectations for the next iteration, which is a significant selling point for the producers of consumer electronics. Advanced semiconductor packaging technologies can help meet the consumer electronics market's complex and evolving needs.
• Panel-level packaging has been finding increasing applications in footprint-sensitive devices, such as smartphones, owing to the requirement of high-performing, energy-efficient, thin, and small form factor packages. As such, the growing penetration of these devices in recent years also create considerable demand for the market. For instance, as per Ericsson, there were 6.3 billion subscriptions associated with smartphones at the end of 2021, accounting for about 77% of all mobile phone subscriptions. This forecast is expected to reach 7.8 billion in 2027, accounting for around 87% of all mobile subscriptions.
• The popularity of fan-out panel level packaging (FOPLP) has been rising steadily for many consumer electronic applications due to its many advantages, including low-cost potential. The current mainstream chips that use this technology for integration include Antenna-in-Package (AiP) antenna modules of 5G smartphones, integrated chips of wearable devices, and Internet of Things (IoT) use cases.
• As such, the increasing penetration of 5G and IoT in recent years presents significant growth opportunities for the market. For instance, as per GSMA, by 2025, 5G networks are expected to cover one-third of the world's population. The organization has also predicted that the number of 5G connections will surpass 1 billion by the end of 2022 and 2 billion by 2025, making up over a fifth of mobile connections.
• With the rising investments in 5G, the demand for 5G-enabled smartphones is also increasing parallelly. For instance, as per the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), the revenues from 5G smartphones are expected to reach USD 61.37 billion in 2022, up 15% from USD 53.38 billion in 2021. 5G smartphones were also estimated to make up 62% of all smartphone units in 2021 and rise to 72% in 2022.

• Taiwan is a well-known electronics manufacturing hub owing to its strong ICT industry base, robust semiconductor manufacturing clusters, and advanced manufacturing capacity. These advantages have contributed to the rapid development of many regional companies that offer advanced ICT-related products, primarily in the sectors of electronic components, computers, fiber optic cable, telecommunications equipment, etc.
• The region also benefits from the presence of large semiconductor companies like TSMC and ASE that are focusing on investing in advanced semiconductor packaging solutions. TSMC already operates four advanced packaging fabs, located in Hsinchu Science Park (HSP), Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP), Southern Taiwan Science Park (STSP), and Longton in northern Taiwan. The company now aims to build a new advanced packaging plant in Chiayi or Yunlin county, southern Taiwan.
• Taiwan has recently declared an extra spending bill of TWD 236.96 billion (USD 8.56 billion) to procure weaponry over the next five years to counter the threats posed by China. This unique budget is expected to be used primarily to purchase indigenous weapon systems from 2022 to 2026. Such investments are expected to drive the usage of semiconductor components further, thereby positively impacting the market.
• Moreover, the Japanese telecommunications market is also one of the largest in the world by revenue, with few large fixed and mobile network operators that have invested heavily in towers and fiber infrastructure over the past two decades despite an overall market underpinned by low economic and population growth.
• The automotive industry accounts for a significant share of the country's total demand for semiconductor components. Also, the steps taken to increase the adoption of autonomous vehicles further drive the growth of the market.

The market is considered moderately competitive with major players such as Samsung Electronics, Intel Corporation, Nepes Corporation, ASE Group, and PowerTech Technology Inc. These companies have a major share of the market. However, more companies will be involved in extensive R&D and market development activities to develop competitive panel-level packaging technology in the coming years.

• July 2022 - Nepes announced that it would increase the number of products it produces in huge quantities utilizing fan-out-panel level packages (FO-PLP), one of the most advanced packaging techniques. Following the Power Management Integrated Circuit (PMIC), codec chips and application processors will be introduced to the market.
• February 2022 - Intel acquired Tower semiconductors for USD 53 billion per share in cash. The acquisition significantly advances Intel’s IDM 2.0 strategy as the company further expands its manufacturing capacity, expand packaging technologies, global footprint, and technology portfolio to address unprecedented industry demand.

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