ic_sockets

Bishop & Associates has just released an eight chapter report detailing the world IC socket market. This report provides sales data by region, product type, and end-use equipment sector, as well as technology issues by socket configuration. Leading IC socket manufacturers are identified by total and regional sales.

The world IC socket market is an increasingly dynamic business. Technology changes that obsolete one type of interconnect may provide product opportunities at another level of packaging. Direct solder attach threatens separable socket applications – or will change their nature.

Interconnect Levels 1 through 6 are in a constant state of flux – with perhaps the most dynamic interaction occurring at Levels 2 and 3 where sockets are applied. Design trends in one direction may reverse course, leading to a new version of the original socket format. Some say packaging levels are collapsing as silicon consumes more real estate. This dynamic is occurring between the die and PC board:

Level of Packaging

Level 1: Die-to-Chip Package
Level 2: Package-to-Board
Level 3: Board Level
Level 4-6: Subsystem-System I/O

Trends

Higher Integration, Plastic, CSP or No Package
BGA Solder Attach
Card-Edge vs. XGA (Level 2)
SMT, Miniaturization, Density, Speed

There are several packaging dynamics that will impact sockets:

     Advent of BGA direct attach surface mount packages
     Chip Speed (> 1GHz)
     Integration (Chip Set to MCM or ULSI-integrated On-Chip)
     Voltage/Current/Power Trends (Heat > 15W – 100W)
     Die Shrink (0.25-0.18mm lines - high perf. diffused Cu interconnects)
     Chip and Package I-O (> 500, 1000 and even 5000 area pads)
     Direct Chip Attach Trends (Unpackaged, Bumped Die or CSP)
     Substrate Escape (Limitations of conventional board technology)
     Advanced Surface Mount (BGA/CSP – Mini-Solder Ball @ 1.0 - 0.5mm Pitch)
     Low Mating Height: Portables, Thin Notebooks and Appliances
     Manufacturing Outsourcing (Electronic Mfg Services - EMS)

When Intel changed Pentium designs in 1997-98 to the Single Edge Cartridge, PGA socket demand declined. Interconnects changed from the ZIF socket to a "Slot One" connector. Suppliers production tooled this new connector – a 1mm card-edge that mates the SEC in vertical orientation to the motherboard. A similar version attaches the Advanced Graphics Processor (AGP). Direct attachment of the IC chip to the SEC daughterboard replaces the socket and shifts interconnect to the next level of packaging. Secondary Cache chips (a driving force behind SEC), are mounted on the card adjacent to the CPU. Robust thermal hardware completes the package.

The combination of this changing technology, improvements in soldering methods and new inspection procedures will continue to put pressure on the IC socket market.

New area array packages: BGA, FBGA and LGA/XGA hold great promise – and foretell production socket

fortunes for the future. In any case, it is certain that array packages will increase dramatically at the expense of perimeter devices and their related sockets. Growth rates will tend to be lower on more mature perimeter-leaded socket devices, and in many areas will decline. Growth rates of sockets vs. direct attach will be dependent on what leading socket innovators do to address the direct chip attach and BGA trends.

World IC Socket Market

The worldwide IC Socket market reached $1,245.0 million in 1999. Memory Modules captured the largest market share with Pin Grid Arrays second and SIP/DIP sockets third. Standard production sockets, as a group, achieved $749.0 million in sales and a 60.2% share of the world market.

Test and burn-in sockets achieved $211.0 million in sales and a 16.9% share of market. PGA sockets are the largest product segment in this category with $92.0 million in sales, a 7.4% share. The test and burn-in socket market is a niche market, and many manufacturers produce these sockets on a special order basis. The following table segments the 1999 IC socket market by product:

Production Sockets

Advances in direct attachment of IC’s, coupled with more highly integrated devices is driving a shift toward Area Array packaging. Controlled impedance, socket lead length, signal conditioning, trace geometries and PCB escape patterns are critical to these higher speed, higher density devices. Some of these parameters can be best controlled in the processor chip set or in a local fan-out module. Even though there is a preference to direct attach, a good compromise providing a separable interface is a surface mount socket.

In the PC industry this need is reinforced by the logistics of most PC production. With characteristics similar to consumer electronics, boards are fabricated and assembled offshore. CPUs are installed in final assembly in a domestic plant and may represent upwards of 40% of the total system cost.

Despite this practice there is a compelling market pull toward surface mount BGA packages. Some notebook computers and low end boxes use BGA attach to a motherboard or daughter card. The Intel SEC utilizes both BGA and cardedge with the BGA/PCB attach providing several advantages.

Memory Modules

This segment is a bright spot in the IC socket business as there is no new technology that will have a major negative impact in the near term. While new generation Rambus^tm (RIMM) and Double Data Rate (DDR) Synchronous DRAM will have a significant technical impact they are essentially chip enhancements.

Test and Burn-In Sockets

Test and burn-in is an integral part of IC production, with application and socket growth rates trailing IC unit volume trends. Thus the Test and Burn-In socket segment will grow at a slower pace than the IC industry’s actual percent of growth. This is a niche market and has different participants than the production IC socket market. Leaders in this area include Yamaichi, TI Japan, Enplas, Wells/CTI and 3M Textool. This difference is cultural (e.g. semiconductor and ATE industries vs. EOEMs). Also, unit volume is low and designs are very specialized, with distinct differences between test and burn-in categories.

Market Size by World Region

North America dominates the world IC socket market with $504.7 million in sales and a 40.6% share. Europe ranks second with sales of $319.1 million and a market share of 25.6%. Japan holds a 17.3% share and Asia/Pacific 11.2%.

The Rest of the World (ROW) accounts for 5.3% of IC socket sales, although contract manufacturers are now setting up production facilities in some of these regions.

Memory Modules are the largest product segment in each geographic region. Market size ranges from $15.8 million in the ROW geography to $110.6 million in North America. Pin Grid Arrays rank second behind Memory Modules, and SIP/DIP sockets follow in the third slot. Chip Carriers continue as an influential part of the world market representing 11.9% of the market in North America and 13.5% in Europe. PGA sockets are the leading category in each region in the Test and Burn-In segment.

The computer and peripheral industry is the largest market for IC sockets in each of the world’s major regions in 1999. Market size ranges from $208.6 million in North America to $24.3 million in the ROW countries. Telecom/Datacom ranks second in all regions, and Industrial uses are third. Telecom/Datacom consumes $101.4 million of IC sockets in North America, while Industrial uses claim $52.8 million.

Market Size by End-Use Equipment Sector

The computer and peripheral market is the largest consumer of IC sockets worldwide at $463.0 million. Sockets utilized in computers and peripherals represent 37.2% of the total IC socket market. The telecom/datacom market is second with worldwide sales of $264.0 million, a 21.2% share. The Industrial market follows with worldwide sales of $158.0 million and a 12.7% market share.

Leading IC Socket Manufacturers

The world’s top 10 IC socket manufacturers capture 67.4% of the world market. Yamaichi is the world leader with a market share of 16.9%, and most sales made in Japan and Asia/Pacific. AMP ranks second with a market share of 13.3%, and most sales made in North America and Europe. Molex, Thomas & Betts and FCI/Berg complete the top five. The top five companies capture 54.5% of the world IC socket market.

North America

AMP holds the top spot in North America with a 16.3% market share. Thomas & Betts is second with a 11.3% share and Molex places third with 8.9%. The top 5 companies capture 50% of the North America market.

Europe

AMP is number one in Europe with a market share of 16.3%. Thomas & Betts is second with a 9.7% share, and Molex ranks third with an 8.8% share. FCI/Berg, with a market share of 6.3%, is also an important competitor in this market.

Japan

Yamaichi is dominant in Japan with 69.4% of IC socket sales. SMK ranks second and Molex places third

Asia Pacific

Molex holds the top spot in Asia Pacific with a 20.2% market share. Foxconn is second with a 18.7% share, and FCI/Berg is third with 17.3%. The top three manufacturers account for 56% of the market in this region

Rest of the World

AMP leads in the rest of the world with a market share of 15.1%. Yamaichi is second with a 12.1% share, and Molex third at 10.6%. The leading manufacturers account for only 47% of the market, as there are many small producers of IC sockets in this large and varied geographic area.

$1,500 - Published April 2000