“ASAT is very excited about SigmaTel’s tremendous success in the portable MP3 player market space, and is equally excited about our opportunity to support this growth with our state-of-the-art facility in Dongguan, China,” says Jay Nunez, senior VP of worldwide sales and general manager at ASAT.

ASAT’s manufacturing facility in China helps to offer lower costs, lower risks, and closer proximity to Hong Kong and key end-users. ASAT commenced production in Phase I of the China operation last year with its LPCC, fpBGA, and TAPP advanced packaging technologies. SigmaTel joins a number of companies completing qualification in the new China facility. Upon completion of Phase II later this year, the combined facilities will be approximately 500,000 sq. ft., making ASAT one of the largest subcontract assembly companies in China.

“SigmaTel has a long-standing partnership with ASAT. They have been assembling and testing SigmaTel products for the last 5 years,” says Steve Beatty, senior VP of operations and engineering services at SigmaTel. “We have always known ASAT to be a leader in advanced packaging technology, and are enthusiastic about being in their new manufacturing facility in China to take advantage of the competitive edge it will offer.”

ASAT’s fpBGA package entered the chip scale market offering a solution for mobile applications and handheld electronics. The lead-free and green fpBGA package is ROHS-compliant, and passes the 260° reflow temperature.