New rules, new markets, new skills: ASICS in the 90s

Three major forces at work in the ASIC markets are discussed: the increasing importance of foundries, the global regionalization of the ASIC markets, and the emerging role of multichip modules. It is pointed out that the economies of scale and comparative advantage will force the foundries to supply higher quality products, in near-state-of-the-art fabrication facilities with highly flexible processing. Moreover, the cost of these facilities is expected to rise rapidly, thus forcing the user to continue to use foundries instead of building fabrication facilities. It is also believed that the linkage between users and suppliers will shift away from the classical arm's length relationship to a partnership, where each party sees the other as an equal. The impact of regionalism on design and manufacture of ASICs and on the relationship of both processes to the ultimate user is considered. Multichip modules (MCMs) are a new wave in packaging technology consisting of a collection of multiple die mounted on a thin-film multilayer package. Some major applications of MCMs are identified.<>