Another indication of business picking up for KLIC...
ASE, SPIL raise BGA prices by 10%
Cage Chao, Hsinchu; Jack Lu, DigiTimes[Tuesday 21 October 2003]
Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE) and Siliconware Precision Industries Ltd (SPIL) have raised prices for BGA (ball-grid array) packaging by about 10% this month due to the combined effect of tight capacity and rising material cost, said sources.
The price hike will only affect rush-order shipments this quarter (and all orders thereafter), said an IC design source.
Although the two companies recently bought more wire bonders, supply for BGA packaging is still tight. ASE and SPIL are running at over 90% utilization, company sources said.
Demand for BGA packaging has increased as more products, including flash memory, digital still camera (DSC) controllers and USB chips, recently began using BGA packaging. Before, chipsets, graphics chips and communications chips were the main applications for BGA packaging.
In the third quarter, the demand and cost for raw materials, including substrates, solder balls and gold wire increased by 10% on average, the IC design source said.
High-end BGA packages (400 and 500 pins) are being quoted at about NT$55 per chip, compared to less than NT$50 during the last two quarters. BGA packages below 100 pins are being quoted at above NT$25 per chip, compared to NT$21-22 previously, according to the IC design source. |
