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With the rapid development of artificial intelligence, Internet of Things and 5G technology, the demand for semiconductors is growing, and packaging technology has become the key to the development of the semiconductor industry. Advanced packaging technology can improve the performance and reliability of semiconductor devices, while meeting the needs of packaging technology in different application fields.
Recently, Choi Woo-jin, vice president in charge of semiconductor assembly and test at SK hynix, said that in the era of artificial intelligence (AI), where the demand for high-performance chips is growing exponentially, the company is determined to contribute to the development of highest-performance storage using cutting-edge packaging technology. He believes that packaging technology innovation is becoming the key to the struggle for semiconductor supremacy.
"To achieve this, we are focusing on developing various cutting-edge packaging technologies, such as chiplets and hybrid bonding technologies, which will help combine heterogeneous chips such as memory chips and non-memory chips," Choi said. At the same time, SK hynix will develop through-silicon via (TSV) technology and MR-MUF technology, which play an important role in the manufacture of high-bandwidth memory (HBM).
——Analysis of the market size of the global semiconductor industry
In 2021, the global semiconductor market grew rapidly, with a total of 1.15 trillion chips sold, and the market size reached a record high of $556 billion, a significant increase of 26.2% year-on-year. The semiconductor market as a whole was not negatively affected by the pandemic in 2021. Strong consumer demand drove double-digit growth across all major product categories (excluding photovoltaics).
From the perspective of semiconductor segments, integrated circuits have always been the main segments of the semiconductor industry. In 2021, the integrated circuit market size reached US$463.002 billion, a year-on-year increase of 28.2%, accounting for 83.29% of the global semiconductor market. Among them, integrated circuits can be subdivided into logic circuits, memories, processors and analog circuits, and these four products accounted for 27.85%, 27.67%, 14.43% and 13.33% respectively in 2021. In 2021, memory, analog circuits, and logic circuits all achieved significant growth.
-- Global semiconductor companies compete in many aspects
The semiconductor industry is highly globalized, with companies in a large number of countries competing on multiple aspects of semiconductor production, from semiconductor design to manufacturing to ATP (assembly, test, and packaging).
According to a report released by Gartner, a U.S. research institution, the top 10 companies in the global semiconductor industry in 2021 are Samsung, Intel, SK Hynix, Micron, Qualcomm, Broadcom, MediaTek, Texas Instruments, NVIDIA, and AMD. Among them, Samsung surpassed Intel to become the top chip seller. Samsung's semiconductor revenue surged 31.6% to $75.95 billion in 2021. Intel's revenue fell to second place, growing just 0.5% to $73.1 billion, the slowest growth in sales among the top 25 companies.
Looking ahead, data from the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) predicts that global semiconductor sales will be about $520 billion in 2023, down 9.4% year-on-year. It is worth noting that as of December 2023, global semiconductor sales have achieved month-on-month growth for the tenth consecutive month, and chip demand has shown a significant recovery momentum, and the global semiconductor market is expected to rebound strongly in 2024.
WSTS (World Semiconductor Trade Statistics Association) said that due to the popularity of generative AI, the demand for related semiconductor products has increased sharply, and the demand for storage is expected to show a significant recovery, so global semiconductor sales will increase by 13.1% in 2024, reaching a record high of 588.364 billion US dollars; IDC (Internet Data Center) is more optimistic than WSTS, which believes that global semiconductor sales will reach $632.8 billion in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 20.20%.
According to the research report of China Development Bank Securities, driven by AI, the semiconductor industry is expected to usher in more opportunities, including the growth of demand for high-computing power chips and the improvement of storage performance, as well as innovations in chip architecture, materials and packaging technology, so it is expected that AI will still be one of the main lines of the market in 2024.
Prospective Economist APP Information Group
For more research and analysis of this industry, please refer to the "Analysis Report on Market Prospect and Investment Strategic Planning of China's Semiconductor Industry" by Qianzhan Industry Research Institute.
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