High volume CSP applications and market trends

Product miniaturization is driving the industry to introduce smaller form factor products-typically, chip-scale or chip-size packages (CSPs). Applications include consumer products such as digital camcorders and cameras; mobile phones and other handheld communications products; IC and memory cards; and portable computers. In addition, CSPs are finding their way into products where increased density is critical. CSPs offer many of the advantages of bare die-tested die, size, weight, and low profile-but at the same time provide a packaged solution. Low pin count devices are increasingly being packaged in CSPs, with larger volumes shipping every year. More than 100 CSP varieties have been introduced and many versions are shipping in high volume. This stimulates questions as to which packages are in high volume use for each application; which applications use the ultimate CSP, the wafer level packages; what the drivers are for these packages in each application area; what products will be seen in the future; and how packages will change to meet the needs of these products. This paper addresses these questions by examining the trends in CSPs and the high volume applications driving the explosion of growth in this emerging area