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IC (Integrated Circuit) Socket Market Analysis

The IC socket market is expected to witness a CAGR of 9.11% over the forecast period 2021-2026. The growing adoption of ICs, especially memory applications and their complexity increases due to increasing their functionality, are some of the major factors driving the growth of the IC test socket market. Recent advancements like 5G, IoT, Data Centers, RF devices, LPDDR5 DRAM, and Electric & Autonomous Vehicles, are expanding the studied market scope over the forecast period.

• The major characteristic requirements for test sockets by IC manufacturers in the current market is long insertion life without contact degradation. However, a long-life, high-performance IC test socket is at least ten times costlier. Providing for a removable interface is a significant reason for using a test socket and is essential for ease of assembly and cost savings in the IC manufacturing process.
• With growing advanced applications, more and more functions are integrated into ICs with size reduction; hence, there is increased demand for higher frequency sockets to test larger BGA packages. IC tests are becoming a critical issue for the semiconductor industry. This places pressure on the testing supply chain and will result in new test & burn-in strategies, such as combining TBI and wafer-scale tests. IC packaging is also changing toward flip chips, and 3D chip packaging will also bring changes in the studied market.
• Also, the growing adoption of ICs in products that are used in a harsh environment is further driving the demand for burn-in test sockets. Till now, IC test sockets are majorly used for measuring electrical characteristics; however, growing adoption in applications like Electric Vehicles and DRAM in data centers servers, have also fuelled the demand for testing temperature reliability and durability of ICs. This is fuelling the demand for burn-in test sockets.
• Further, the advancements in the manufacturing process are also bringing development into the studied market. For instance, socket manufacturers invest tooling cost for generic packages and amortize the cost over tens of thousands of sockets. When it comes to custom packages, it is not profitable to invest initially and amortize over tens of thousands of sockets because the test need will be only for a few hundred sockets. Therefore, US-based Ironwood Electronics has developed a unique problem using a stamped spring pin contact technology that provides a robust solution for Burn-in & Test applications.
• Additionally, the increasing demand for power management and power-efficient products, and expanding industrial applications scope for analog ICs, are expected to drive the growth of burn-in test sockets over the forecast period.

IC (Integrated Circuit) Socket Industry Segmentation

An IC socket is deployed in devices that consist of an integrated circuit. It even acts as a placeholder for IC chips. The major role that an IC socket performs is of enabling secure removal and insertion of IC chips as IC chips may get impaired from heat due to soldering. The extended form of the IC socket is known as an integrated circuit socket. IC sockets have a wide range of applications attached to it. They are widely used in the applications where integrated circuit devices possess short lead pins. They are mostly discovered in desktop and server computers. They are also employed for prototyping new circuits as they enable easy and simple component swapping.