Why is "Assembly" of Strategic Importance?
Why is "Assembly" of Strategic Importance?
m Silicon fab. costs rising sharply (> $1B for 0.35m )
Ô Difficult to make a profit on chips (e.g. 64Mbit DRAM)
m To maximize chip profit can't afford to change masks very often!
Ô Preference for high-volume "standard parts:" memory (DRAM, SRAM, Flash EEPROM), m P, programmable ASSP, sea-of-gates.
m Same parts will be used in many different "standard chipsets"
Ô Additional margin in specific interconnections of die and associated development systems.
m Leads to "Standard Multi-Chip Modules" as strategic business for successful chip companies to leverage silicon.