Low cost options for next generation packaging

Equal to the drive for miniaturization in consumer products is the pressure for lower prices and hence the demand for low-cost packaging. Portable com munication products such as mobile phones are now designed in six to nine m onths, with new models introduced every six months. Prices decline with eac h new product introduction. For example, personal computer prices have fall en dramatically over the last five years - from thousands of dollars at the lowest end to less than five hundred-dollars for stripped-down versions. F uture competition demands that computer appliances be priced even lower. So ny's PlayStation 2, introduced this year, contains a processor that rivals Intel's Pentium (R) III in number of transistors, yet the system sells for approximately $350 [1]. Measured strictly by I/O cost, emerging packages may not always be the lowe st cost package; however, from a system point-of-view these packages are th e low cost option. Low-cost options for next generation packages include st acked packages; lead frame-based chip scale packages (CSPs) such as Amkor's MLF, QON and SONs, and Fujitsu's BCC; wafer level packages; and even syste min-a-package.