Asia Emerges as a Hot Outsourcing Destination for Power Semiconductor Packaging.

PALO ALTO, Calif. -- The trend to outsource packaging requirements to Asia grows among power semiconductor manufacturers due to declining profit margins and escalating competition. Their new business models speed consumer adoption of their products by reducing time to market and production costs.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.semiconductors.frost.com), Outsourced Power Semiconductor Packaging Markets, finds that the markets earned revenues of $887.6 million in 2007 and estimates this to reach $1.4 billion by 2011.

If you are interested in a virtual brochure, which provides manufacturers, end users, and other industry participants with an overview of the Outsourced Power Semiconductor Packaging Markets, then send an e-mail to David Escalante, Corporate Communications, at [e-mail], your full name, company name, title, telephone number, company e-mail address, company website, city, state and country. Upon receipt of the above information, an overview will be sent to you by e-mail.

Outsourcing packaging to Asia will help power semiconductor companies lower their manufacturing costs. Asia's economical raw materials, labor, installation and maintenance costs will help it generate more revenues from packaging than any other region.

One factor in the growth of outsourcing to Asia is the shift towards integrated circuit (IC) lead free packages that boost demand for power quad flat no-leads (QFN) packages primarily manufactured in Asia. Directives such as Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS), Waste Electrical, and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) put a ceiling on the use of lead in electrical and electronic products. To comply with the regulations, power semiconductor manufacturers have been turning to power with lead-free QFN packages.

"Since power QFN is a new packaging technique, most power semiconductor manufacturers do not possess the requisite in-house manufacturing capabilities," says Frost & Sullivan Senior Research Analyst Bonnie Varghese K. "Therefore, there is extensive outsourcing of QFN packaging to Asia."

Meanwhile, IC packaging companies in the power semiconductor market must stay abreast of developments in the semiconductor industry to meet the constant demand for improved packages. They will introduce differentiated packaging by identifying the right technology and integrating it immediately.

"Market participants will be particularly responsive to customer preference for increased functionality in mobile phones, since it triggers the need for higher levels of integration," notes Varghese. "This could be a huge challenge for power semiconductor packaging companies, since several power semiconductor devices are used in portable products."

To cater to the requirement for high efficiency, power semiconductor manufacturers demand packages that offer high performance. IC packaging companies will also have to take stock of the form factor, since constantly reduced die sizes provide small form factors, such as what was previously packed in a D2PAK is now being packed in a DPAK.

End-user demand for greater integration, higher performance, smaller form factors, and shorter product life cycle has forced IC packaging companies to improve the production process and change their assembly lines, by increasingly relying on outsourcing.

Outsourced Power Semiconductor Packaging Markets is part of the Semiconductors Growth Partnership Service program, which also includes research in the following markets: World Markets for ASICs in Automobiles, World Markets for Discrete Power Semiconductors in Automobiles, World Automobile ASIC ASSP and FPGA Markets. All research services included in subscriptions provide detailed market opportunities and industry trends that have been evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants. Interviews with the press are available.

Frost & Sullivan, the Global Growth Consulting Company, partners with clients to accelerate their growth. The company's Growth Partnership Services, Growth Consulting and Career Best Practices empower clients to create a growth focused culture that generates, evaluates and implements effective growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan employs over 45 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from more than 30 offices on six continents. For more information about Frost & Sullivan's Growth Partnerships, visit http://www.frost.com.

Outsourced Power Semiconductor Packaging Markets

N315