While it is increasingly obvious that virtually all electronics products will be Pb-free over time, there are a number of knowledge gaps that must be closed before Pb-free reliability can be predicted with the same certainty that SnPb assembly can deliver.  It will take many years before these gaps are closed.  In the meantime, manufacturers of high-reliability/long-service-life products are likely to stay with conventional SnPb assembly processes as the only predictable way to meet their customers' performance requirements.

The risks and potential long-term costs associated with the reliability uncertainties of Pb-free assembly — to users and producers of high-reliability/long-service-life products — are too great to ignore.  Nonetheless, many component manufacturers are rushing to completely convert to Pb-free devices.  One type of Pb-free device packaging in particular cannot be reliably used in SnPb assembly — Pb-free ball grid arrays (BGAs).

iNEMI has formed a task group made up of firms that are either taking the Pb exemption or are out of scope for EU RoHS.  The efforts of this group will focus on ways to work with the BGA component supply base (integrated circuit as well as packaging firms) to support SnPb-compatible BGAs, assist with questions of long-term reliability, and/or other solutions to address concerns.  Planned activities include:

• Developing a list of critical BGA component families.
• Estimating total available market (TAM) for these devices in an SnPb assembly version.
• Developing a general business case based on TAM.
• Working with the supply base to come up with alternatives that meet this critical market need.

Presentations

Availability of SnPb-Compatible BGAs Workshop (March 1, 2007; Cupertino, California)


Press Releases

iNEMI Workshop on Availability of SnPb-Compatible BGAs Rescheduled (12/18/06)

iNEMI Organizes Task Group to Address Availability of SnPb BGAs (11/8/06)